The influence of boundary layers on supersonic inlet flow unstart induced by mass injection

A transverse jet is injected into a supersonic model inlet flow to induce unstart. Planar laser Rayleigh scattering from condensed CO₂ particles is used to visualize flow dynamics during the unstart process, while in some cases, wall pressure traces are simultaneously recorded. Studies conducted over a range of inlet configurations reveal that the presence of turbulent wall boundary layers strongly affect the unstart dynamics. It is found that relatively thick turbulent boundary layers in asymmetric wall boundary layer conditions prompt the formation of unstart shocks; in symmetric boundary conditions lead to the propagation of pseudo-shocks; and in both cases facilitate fast inlet unstart, when compared with thin, laminar boundary layers. Incident shockwaves and associated reflections are found to affect the speed of pressure disturbances. These disturbances, which induce boundary layer separation, are found to precede the formation of unstart shocks. The results confirm the importance of and need to better understand shock-boundary layer interactions in inlet unstart dynamics.