Experimental studies of Curved Cone Waverider forebody Inlet(CCWI) at low Mach number range

The self-start ability, anti-backpressure performance and side slip influences to the performance of the Curved Cone Waverider forebody Inlet(CCWI) were experimentally studied in the present paper. Based on the geometrically constrained and bluntly modified practical CCWI wind tunnel experimental model, using the inlet throttling systems, the static pressure distributions and high resolution sherilen maps of the CCWI's flow field were obtained at free steam Mach numbers(Ma_∞) 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 at different throttling cone positions. The experimental results show that the integrated CCWI model can self-start at Ma_∞ 3.5 and 4.0. At the angle of attack 0°, its maximum anti-back pressure abilities is about 24 and 33 times of the free stream static pressure(p_∞) at Ma_∞ 3.5 and 4.0, respectively. Side slip has little influence on mass flow capture and flow compression abilities for CCWI. The study on CCWI can be used for practical integration studies with scramjet engine and air-breathing vehicles.