An advanced aperture inlet (AAI) uses a three-dimensional, mixed
compression inlet design derived from computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
by streamline tracing a supersonic section from an axisymmetric mixed
compression inlet solution. The axisymmetric design is used to obtain a
CFD solution with slip wall boundaries at the inlet design point and
serves as a flow field generator for the AAI. The AAI geometry is
obtained by projecting a desired aperture shape onto a surface model of
the external oblique shock. Streamline seeds are located on the projected
aperture segments and transferred into the CFD solution space. The
streamlines generated by these seeds inside the CFD solution space are
then used as a wireframe to define the supersonic diffuser back to the
throat location. Traditional design techniques are then used to define
the subsonic diffuser from the inlet throat to the engine face.