Computational investigation of effects of heat source position on the performance of a mixed compression supersonic intake

Investigation of the intake performance is one of the most important topics in the aerodynamic design of the aerial vehicles. In this study, the performance of a supersonic axisymmetric mixed compression intake that was designed for free stream Mach number of 2, has been investigated at zero degrees angle of attack. Then by applying a heat source and changing its position, effects of this source on the intake performance has been studied. The flow has been simulated by a computational fluid dynamic code which in RANS equations have been discretized using the explicit method. The practical results were achieved by testing in the wind tunnel at Imam Hossein University have been used to validate the numerical simulation. Results show that a heat source located at the proper location could have desirable effects on the total pressure recovery, mass flow ratio and drag coefficient of the intake. The critical back pressure ratio also increases which widens the intake operating region. However, the flow distortion will increase a bit. At design Mach number and critical condition, 9.68% increase in total pressure recovery, 26.6% decrease in drag coefficient, 16.16% increase in mass flow ratio, 8.7% increase in critical back pressure ratio and 17.13% increase in flow distortion have been observed.