Numerical investigation of starting characteristics for RBCC supersonic sidewall-compression inlets

Numerical simulation method was carried out to investigate the starting characteristics of two typical RBCC supersonic sidewall-compression inlets at Mach number of 1.5-5.0. The investigation shows that starting features are different due to different heights. During the starting process, there are mutations of the flow field and the total pressure recovery coefficient. Because the side direction compression ratio is proper, the separation zone out of the cowl is divided into two smaller separation zones when inlet unstart. For a proper height, the performance when unstart is improved significantly, performance parameters oscillations are weaker, and the self-starting Mach number is smaller, so the inlet with this height has a better starting performance, and can operate well below the self-starting Mach number.