Experimental study of multi-row disk inlets for hypersonic air breathing propulsion

This paper proposes a new supersonic inlet, which is called Multi-Row Disk (MRD) inlet The MRD inlet has a centerbody being composed of a tip cone and following disks. Because centerbody geometry is variable by changing space between disks, air compression ratio and mass capture ratio of this inlet can be controlled independently of each other. However, conical cavity flow formed between disks may affect the boundary layer profile negatively resulting in the deteriorated performance of inlets. We made a basic research on conical cavity flow and validation tests of the MRD inlet in 2002 and 2003. There was significant improvement in the off-design point performance of the MRD inlet relative to general axisymmetnc inlets.