Aerodynamic efficiency analysis of the ridge integrated submerged inlet

Abstract

In this study, a new ridge surface is proposed and its impact on the aerodynamic efficiency of a generic top-mounted submerged inlet is investigated at Mach 0.3 to 0.5. The concept is developed to investigate the possibility of vortex breakdown manipulation by the ridge surface to control the chaotic flow pattern after the breakdown, measuring the overall drag increment and total pressure recovery due to the ridge integration. For this purpose, a conceptual submerged inlet is designed with a semi-elliptic entrance for integration with a generic fuselage and ridge surfaces; then different study cases are modeled based on this configuration for numerical simulations by Ansys Fluent. Key factors such as the quality of the captured streamtube, vortex patterns on the fuselage, induced lift, and vortex breakdown patterns are investigated and compared by second order accuracy. Results indicate that the modified ridge surface improves the overall efficiency of the fuselage-inlet configuration both in the terms of lift over drag and pressure recovery.