Calculation of a simulated 3-D high speed inlet using the Navier-Stokes equations

A hybrid numerical algorithm, developed to solve the full three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, is applied to the computation of the flowfield in a simulated three-dimensional high speed aircraft inlet at a Mach number of 2.5 and Reynolds number of 1.4 x 10 to the 7th based on inlet length. The numerical algorithm incorporates a coordinate transformation in order to handle general flow geometries, and utilizes the algebraic turbulent eddy viscosity model of Baldwin and Lomax. The hybrid algorithm has been vectorized on the CDC CYBER 203 computer using the SL/1 vector programming language developed at NASA Langley. The computed results are compared with experimental measurements of the ramp and cowl static pressures, and boundary layer pitot profiles. The results are also compared with a previous two-dimensional Navier-Stokes computation of the same configuration. The agreement with the experimental data is generally good; however, additional improvements in turbulence modeling are needed.