Assessment of an Innovative Experimental Facility for Testing Diffusing Serpentine Inlets with Large Amounts of Boundary Layer Ingestion

An innovative experimental facility was developed for testing flush-mounted, diffusing serpentine inlets intended for use on blended-wing-body aircraft. The static ground test facility was able to simulate the boundary layer profile expected to be ingested by inlets mounted on the aft sections of these aircraft. It generated Mach numbers ranging from 0.19 to 0.4 and boundary layer thicknesses between 36% and 45%. The circumferential distortions at the aerodynamic interface plane of the serpentine inlet were also calculated, and ranged between 0.0042 for the lowest Mach number, to 0.0098 for the highest Mach number. Reynolds numbers for the tests ranged between 1.2 million and 2.4 million depending on engine speed and Mach number. The results of the experiment were compared to a previous NASA report, and showed close agreement in distortion patterns and pressure losses at a Mach number of 0.25.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Hylton, Michael Ronnie

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• O'Brien, Walter F. Jr.
• Ng, Fai

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Dancey, Clinton L.

• Boundary-Layer-Ingesting
• Blended-Wing-Body
• Aerodynamic Interface Plane
• Serpentine Inlet
• Distortion

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-07112008-182200

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/33969