Numerical Study of Shock-Dominated Flow Control in Supersonic Inlets

This thesis concentrates on the improvement of the quality of shock-dominated flows in supersonic inlets by controlling shock wave / boundary layer interactions (SWBLIs). SWBLI flow control has been a major issue relevant to scramjet-associated endeavors for many years. The ultimate goal of this study is to numerically investigate SWBLI flow control through the application of steady-state thermal sources --- which were defined to replicate the Joule heating effect produced by Quasi-DC electric discharges --- and compare the results with data obtained from previous experiments.Numerical solutions were obtained using both a three-dimensional, unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver with a Spalart-Allmaras (SA) Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) turbulence modeling method and also a simple three-dimensional, compressible RANS solver with a SA turbulence model. Computations employed an ideal gas thermodynamic model. The numerical code is Stanford University Unstructured (SU2), an open-source, unstructured grid, computational fluid dynamics code. The SU2 code was modified to include volumetric thermal source terms to represent the Joule heating effect of electric current flowing through the gas. The computational domain, source term configuration, and flow conditions were defined in accordance with experiments carried out at the University of Notre Dame. Mach 2 flow enters the three-dimensional test domain with a stagnation pressure of 1.7 bar. The test domain is contained by four isothermal side walls maintained at room temperature, as well as an inlet and outlet. A shock wave (SW) generator, a symmetric 10 degree wedge, is positioned on the upper surface of the test domain. The overall length of the test sections is 910 mm and inlet length of the computational domain is increased prior to the location of shock wave generator in order to allow for adequate boundary layer growth. Volumetric heating source terms were positioned on the lower surface of the test domain in the reflected SW region.Experimental results show that the thermal sources create a new shock train within the duct and do not initiate significant additional pressure losses. What remains to be explored is the overall characterization of the 3D flow features and dynamics of the thermally induced SW and the effect of gas heating on total pressure losses in the test section.Numerical solutions validate what is observed experimentally, and offer the ability to gather more temporally and spatially-resolved measurements to better understand and characterize shock-dominated flow control in a supersonic inlet or duct. Although thermally driven SWBLI flow control requires additional research, this study alleviates the dependency on experimentally driven data and adds insight into the nature of the complex unsteady, three-dimensional flowfield.