Aerodynamic design and wind tunnel test on inward-turning inlet of high-speed rocket-augmented ramjet engine

Yiyan YANG; Anxiang FU; Yuhui WANG; Zhaoyang TIAN; Lei SHI

doi:10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.32202

ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA >

2026 , Vol. 47 >Issue 3: 132202 - 132202

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.32202

Fluid Mechanics and Flight Mechanics

Aerodynamic design and wind tunnel test on inward-turning inlet of high-speed rocket-augmented ramjet engine

Yiyan YANG ,
Anxiang FU ,
Yuhui WANG ,
Zhaoyang TIAN ,
Lei SHI

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National Key Laboratory of Solid Rocket Propulsion，Northwestern Polytechnical University，Xi’an 710072，China

E-mail： shilei@nwpu.edu.cn

Received date: 2025-05-07

Revised date: 2025-05-28

Accepted date: 2025-07-01

Online published: 2025-07-03

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China(52272405);Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi(2023ZY1-JCYJ-01-01)

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Abstract

Applying inward-turning inlet with high compression efficiency， good internal flow quality， high flow coefficient， and low overflow resistance to a rocket-augmented ramjet engine can effectively improve the performance of rocket-combined ramjet inlet within the typical flight range and greatly enhance the application potential of rocket-augmented ramjet engine. Based on the typical central strut configuration of a rocket-augmented ramjet engine， if only a simple structural integration method is adopted， the physical intervention of the central strut would seriously damage the compression performance of the inward-turning inlet while its wedge-shaped leading edge would divide the high-speed airflow downstream of the inlet isolator and cause oblique shock and expansion wave interference， resulting in additional compression and an increase in internal contraction ratio， causing a significant decrease in the total pressure recovery coefficient. To address these issues， this paper proposes a structural integration design method between an inward-turning inlet and central strut based on streamline tracing technique. By integrating the central strut with the inlet compression surfaces， not only additional compression effects can be eliminated， but the inflow compression capability of its special precursor can also be fully utilized. The numerical simulation and wind tunnel test verification results indicate that this design method can enable the integrated inward-turning inlet to fully exert the compression performance of the basic flow field while introducing the central strut. Compared with the traditional wedge-shaped central strut， its length can be reduced by 60% at most， and the internal contraction ratio can be reduced by 25%， thus ensuring better start capability. Under the conditions of high contraction ratio and strong compression with the incoming flow of Mach number 6 and the throat pressure rise ratio of 34.8， the total pressure recovery coefficient is improved by 17%.

Key words： rocket-augmented ramjet; inward-turning inlet; streamline tracing technique; central strut; wind tunnel test

Cite this article

Yiyan YANG , Anxiang FU , Yuhui WANG , Zhaoyang TIAN , Lei SHI . Aerodynamic design and wind tunnel test on inward-turning inlet of high-speed rocket-augmented ramjet engine[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2026 , 47(3) : 132202 -132202 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.32202

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