Purpose

This paper aims to reveal the influence of selected geometric parameters on the aerodynamic performance of circular variable aero engine inlets in transonic and supersonic civil aviation.

Design/methodology/approach

The trade-off in inlet design and aerodynamic evaluation parameters is presented. The approach to investigate the dependencies between the aerodynamic and geometric parameters at different flight conditions by means of a parametric design study is introduced.

Findings

The dependencies of inlet drag and efficiency from geometric parameters at flight speeds of Mach 0.95 up to Mach 1.6 are identified. Although entailing additional weight, the inlet length represents the parameter with the highest potential for drag reduction by up to 50% in the selected design space. Ideal geometries for variable pitot inlets are determined. After considering weight, their potential range benefit nearly disappears for subsonic applications, but remains above 20% for supersonic flight at Mach 1.6.

Originality/value

Hence, the technology of circular variable pitot inlets for supersonic transport aircraft could be a way to achieve the ambitious ecological, safety and economic goals for future civil aviation.

中文翻译：

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确定超音速运输的可变皮托管入口的有效几何形状

目的

本文旨在揭示选择的几何参数对跨音速和超音速民航中圆形可变航空发动机进气口空气动力学性能的影响。

设计/方法/方法

提出了进气口设计和空气动力学评估参数之间的权衡。介绍了一种通过参数设计研究来研究不同飞行条件下空气动力学参数与几何参数之间的相关性的方法。

发现

确定了进气阻力和效率与几何参数（在0.95马赫至1.6马赫的飞行速度）之间的相关性。尽管需要额外的重量，但进气口长度代表的参数在选定的设计空间中具有最大的减阻潜力，最多可降低50％。确定了可变皮托管入口的理想几何形状。考虑重量后，它们的潜在航程优势在亚音速应用中几乎消失了，但在1.6马赫的超音速飞行中仍保持在20％以上。

创意/价值

因此，用于超音速运输机的圆形可变皮托管入口技术可能是实现未来民用航空雄心勃勃的生态，安全和经济目标的一种方式。