Experimental Study of Supersonic Inlet Buzz

Abstract

An experimental study of supersonic inlet buzz is presented. This study was carried out on a mixed compression rectangular inlet model; tests were done at Mach numbers ranging from 1.8 to 3, with and without bleed. Inlet flows were analyzed thanks to Schlieren videos and signal processing of unsteady pressure recordings. Two kinds of buzz were observed: which is thought to correspond to an acoustic resonance phenomenon excited by the presence of a shear layer under the cowl lip (Ferri criterion), and which seems to be triggered by a boundary layer separation on the compression ramps (Dailey criterion). In some cases, little buzz could be virtually suppressed by the introduction of a bleed. The frequency of big buzz is shown to be already present in the flow before the onset of large-amplitude oscillations, which suggests that the underlying mechanism of big buzz, probably linked to acoustics, already exists before buzz starts.