Simple method for evaluating the efficiency of high-speed air intakes

Abstract

A new and intuitive method for evaluating the efficiency of the compression process in a supersonic air intake is proposed. The method is based on a comparison of the geometric compression ratio of the flow tube in the air intake under consideration with the maximum possible isentropic compression. It is shown that a higher value of the geometric compression ratio in the air intake allows obtaining higher thrust characteristics, with other conditions being identical.