experimental study on the performance of a symmetrical twin air- intake system

The main purpose of an air inlet is to supply air to the engine in a steady and efficient manner while achieving the maximum total pressure recovery. a twin air intake consists of two s-ducts that join at the downstream end to supply air to a single engine. in the present study, a y-duct inlet with vertical and horizontal offsets and a part of the aircraft fuselage affecting the duct performance were modeled. its performance was tested experimentally by measuring total pressure recovery, flow distortion, and static pressure on the duct walls for different sideslip angles and angles of attack. the aircraft wing had a leading edge extension (lex), which projected over the inlet cowl and impacted the inlet's performance. the tests were performed in a subsonic, open-circuit wind tunnel. in all tests, the mach number was kept at 0.15. based on the results, the flow distortion coefficient at the exit plane of the duct was found to be 29.2%, and the maximum total pressure loss was 1.75%.