The operation of a propulsion system in terms of horizontal takeoff/landing and full-speed range serves as one of the main difficulties for hypersonic travelling. In the present work, a three-dimensional inward-turning inlet with tri-ducts for combined cycle engines is designed for the operation of three different modes controlled by a single rotational flap on the compression side, which efficiently simplifies the inlet structure and the flap control mechanism. At high flight speed between Mach 4 and 6, the pure scramjet mode is switched on, whereas both the ejector and the scramjet paths are open for a moderate Mach number between 2 and 4 with a larger throat area guaranteeing the inlet startability. In the low flight speed range with Mach number below 2, the additional turbojet path will be turned on to supply air for the turbine engine, whereas the other two paths remain open for spillage. Numerical simulations under different operation modes have proven the feasibility and good performance of the designed inlet, e.g., a nearly full mass flow ratio and a total pressure recovery around 0.5 can be achieved at the cruise speed. Meanwhile, the inlet works properly at low flight speeds which overcomes the typical starting problem of similar inlet designs. In the near future, wind tunnel experiments will be carried out to validate our inlet design and its performance.
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