RESEARCH ARTICLE | NOVEMBER 02 2022

Shock train/glancing shock/boundary layer interaction in a

curved isolator with sidewall contraction 
Gang Liang (梁钢) ; He-Xia Huang (黄河峡)  ; Hui-Jun Tan (谭慧俊)  ; Zhong-Qi Luo (罗中岐) ;
Xue-Bin Tang (唐学斌); Can-Min Li (李灿民); Jia Cai (蔡佳)

Physics of Fluids 34, 116106 (2022)

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0120400

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30 August 2023 06:46:06

 Physics of Fluids ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf

Shock train/glancing shock/boundary layer

interaction in a curved isolator with sidewall
contraction
Cite as: Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Submitted: 12 August 2022 . Accepted: 3 October 2022 .
Published Online: 2 November 2022

Gang Liang (梁钢),1 He-Xia Huang (黄河峡),1,a) Hui-Jun Tan (谭慧俊),1,a) Zhong-Qi Luo (罗中岐),1
Xue-Bin Tang (唐学斌), Can-Min Li (李灿民), and Jia Cai (蔡佳)1,2
1 1

AFFILIATIONS
1
College of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Aerospace Power System,
Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
2
College of Aviation Engineering, Nanjing Vocational University of Industry Technology, Nanjing 210023, China

a)
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: huanghexia@nuaa.edu.cn and thj@263.net

ABSTRACT

30 August 2023 06:46:06

Herein, a curved isolator with sidewall contraction of a hypersonic scramjet is extracted and simplified. The flow characteristics in the
isolator with an entrance Mach number of 3.46 are studied. The results show that the lateral contraction of the sidewall generates a strong
shock and its subsequent reflected shock, which induce glancing shock wave/boundary layer interaction (GSWBLI), rolling up large-scale
vortices adjacent to the symmetry plane. As the downstream backpressure increases, the shock train propagates upstream and interacts with
the glancing shock and vortices inevitably, forming a typical shock train/glancing shock/boundary layer interaction (STGSBLI) phenomenon.
Different from the shock train in a straight isolator, it can be divided into two distinct parts, i.e., the center part and the side part. For the
center part, it behaves in a quasi-two-dimensional manner, which is primarily associated with STGSBLI, forcing the low-momentum subsonic
flow to principally accumulate near the symmetry plane and weakening the spanwise pressure gradient in the center part. For the side part, it
locates behind the glancing and reflected shocks and is much shorter than the center part, resulting in a streamwise extension of the super-
sonic flow region near the sidewall. As the shock train moves upstream, the quasi-two-dimensional region enlarges and extends to the side-
wall. It is demonstrated that the aforementioned two parts of the shock train can also be discovered in curved sidewall-contraction isolators
with different centerlines. Therefore, the STGSBLI is the dominant and universal physical phenomenon in isolators with sidewall contraction.
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0120400

I. INTRODUCTION In general, the isolator is a straight duct with a rectangular or

In recent years, the scramjet technology has developed rapidly.
As an important component of the scramjet, the isolator isolates the
aerodynamic and thermal perturbations from a downstream combus-
tor, enabling the hypersonic inlet to work stably in a wide range.
Moreover, the isolator serves as a compressor, which decelerates and
pressurizes the incoming supersonic flow by a shock train.1 The shock
train is a series of multiple shocks2 caused by the interaction between a
shock wave and the boundary layer in a duct,3 which can be classified
into different possible configurations by the freestream Mach number
upstream of the shock.4 As the main flow characteristic in the isolator,
the compression efficiency of the shock train directly affects the oper-
ating characteristics of a scramjet engine.5,6 More specifically, the spe-
cific impulse of the propulsion system can be increased by 3%
5% for
every 1% increase in compression efficiency.7
annular constant cross section.2 In the straight isolator, the coupling of
the complex fluctuations in the multiple subsonic separation regions
and the supersonic core flow regions will lead to the flow unsteadiness
mechanism of the shock train.8 Wang8 reported that the energy in the
pressure fluctuation in the region downstream of the shock train lead-
ing edge increases significantly, and the low-frequency part increase
gradually with the increase in backpressure. However, compared with
the straight isolator, the curved isolator has outstanding advantages in
improving the overall structural configuration of the aircraft, making
its structure more compact with a larger volume ratio. For example,
the curved isolator is utilized in the hypersonic dual combustor
engine,9 NASA P-series inlet/isolator,10 supersonic cascade,11 etc. The
effects of the duct curvature on the shock train have been investigated.
Tan12 experimentally found that the length of the shock train in the

Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400 34, 116106-1

Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
 Physics of Fluids
curved isolator increases by 32% compared with the length predicted
using the Waltrup-Billig empirical formula,13 and a radial pressure
gradient is found in the shock train region, which induces a secondary
flow. On this basis, Huang14 studied the curved isolator with complex
background waves and found that the streamwise pressure gradient of
the shock train decreases, whereas the radial pressure gradient
increases with the decrease in the duct curvature. Moreover, the stable
operation range of the isolator decreases by about 20%, but appropri-
ate duct curvature can weaken the rapid forward motion phenomenon
of the shock train because of the interaction of background waves.
He14 reported that the interaction between incident compression
waves and separation can establish a positive feedback mechanism,
making it difficult for the shock train to stand still in simplified curved
isolators.
In addition, the majority of research on high-speed isolators focus
on cylindrical and rectangular ducts.15–17 Kawatsu et al.18 reported
that the onset of boundary layer separation caused by the leading shock
of the shock train occurs in diverging rectangular ducts differs from
that in the constant area duct. Billig et al.19 suggested that the shock
train characteristics in the cylindrical and rectangular cross sections
are similar, but the circular duct is more capable of resisting the com-
bustion backpressure.20,21 As the isolator locates between the inlet and
combustor, the shape of the inlet exit is fairly complex, particularly for
inward-turning inlet19 and three-dimensional-compression inlet,22
whereas the shape of the combustor is relatively simple usually with a
circular or rectangular shape.23,24 Therefore, the isolator must fulfill a
smooth transition from an unconventional entrance to a circular or
rectangular exit. Wang25 numerically found that the length of the
shock train in the rectangular to circular isolator is shortened by 21%
compared with the rectangular isolator, but the shock train becomes
wider in the spanwise direction. In addition, Tian et al.26 found that
the separation area in the variable cross section isolator is shorter and
wider. Wang27 reported that the shock train leading edge exhibits a “k”
shape in the concave channel and the Mach stem of the leading shock
becomes shorter as the radius of the concave channel increases.
For three-dimensional-compression inlet designed based on the
axisymmetric flow field,22,28,29 its entrance is a ring-sector like section,
of which the aspect ratio is more than 30,22 while that of a rectangular
combustor is generally less than 4. As a result, this type of isolator con-
necting the inlet and combustor exhibits strong sidewall contraction,
leading to the formation of the Glancing Shock Wave/Boundary Layer
Interaction (GSWBLI). The main structure of the GSWBLI is that the
surfaces of the shock and the developed boundary layer plane are per-
pendicular to each other.30 Kubota et al.31 reported that the GSWBLI
can be divided into two types, i.e., the weak and strong interactions
according to the transverse flow structure. Alvi32 found that the most
important parameter determining the GSWBLI phenomenon is the
shock intensity Man ¼ Ma0sinb and divided the GSWBLIs into five
types based on the shock intensity, which are also confirmed by
experiments of others and LES simulation results.33–35
However, the mechanism of the interaction between the glancing
shock/boundary layer flow and the shock train in the sidewall-
contraction isolator remains unclear, which requires further investiga-
tion. Therefore, in this paper, the flow characteristics of a curved
isolator with sidewall contraction are studied via numerical simula-
tions, and the dominant mechanism of the glancing shock/boundary
layer interaction (GSWBLI) on the shock train is uncovered.
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
This paper is sequentially organized in the following ways. First,
the primary flow structure upstream of the shock train, i.e., the glanc-
ing shock wave/boundary layer interaction (GSWBLI) is explored ade-
quately. Then, as the backpressure increases, the impact of the shock
train/glancing shock/boundary layer interaction (STGSBLI) on the
flow structure and migration of high- and low-momentum flows are
investigated and revealed in detail. Subsequently, the effect of the cen-
terline curvature on the STGSBLI is analyzed. Ultimately, the quasi-
two-dimensional feature of the center part of the shock train in the
STGSBLI is discussed thoroughly.
II. DESIGN METHOD OF THE CURVED ISOLATOR
WITH SIDEWALL CONTRACTION
First, the design method of such curved isolator with sidewall
contraction is introduced. The key design principle is based on the
idea proposed in Ref. 36, wherein the arbitrary cross-sectional shape is
transformed to curvature distribution k(s) as the Cartesian coordinates
are correlated with the curvature uniqueness, as shown in Fig. 1(a).
Once the entrance and exit of the isolator are prescribed by calculating
the curvature of each point in Fig. 1(b), the corresponding curvature
distributions are also determined. Therefore, this method converts the
problem of shape transition between two sections into the problem of
curvature transition between two arbitrary functions with the same
defined domain.
In particular, the design process is illustrated in Fig. 2. The shape
of the entrance and exit of the isolator designed herein is shown in Fig.
2(a) (the offset of the isolator is not considered here to emphasize the
30 August 2023 06:46:06
comparison of shape). First, based on the given entrance and exit
shape of the isolator as well as the length and offset of the isolator, k(s)
at the entrance and exit of the isolator can be extracted. Afterward, the
curvature distribution function of the entrance and exit is interpolated
along the shape distribution function to obtain the curvature distribu-
tion function of each cross section in the isolator. Figure 2(c) shows
the schematic diagram of the shape distribution function. Next, the
shape of each cross section in the isolator is inversely obtained in
accordance with the curvature distribution function calculated in the
previous step. The final step is to determine the area distribution func-
tion and centerline function, using which each cross section is scaled,
translated, and rotated to the corresponding position on the centerline
and is smoothly connected to each other. Then, the geometric design
of the isolator based on curvature transition is achieved.
In this paper, the quintic polynomial is used as the centerline
function of the isolator shown in Eq. (1), where x varies from 0 to Liso
(the length of the isolator):
FIG. 1. Schematic diagram of transformation between shape and curvature: (a)
curvature distribution and (b) curvature calculation.
34, 116106-2
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30 August 2023 06:46:06

FIG. 2. Specific design process. (a) Shape of the entrance and exit. (b) k(s) of the entrance and exit. (c) Curvature distribution of each point (take s ¼ 0.56, for example). (d) k
(s) of each cross section (x/Liso ¼ 0.5). (e) Shape of each cross section (f) 3D view of the isolator.

 2  3    2  3  4
y x x x x x x x
¼
0:323 þ3
18:450 C ¼6
8 þ3 ; (2)
Hiso Liso Liso Liso Liso Liso Liso Liso
 4  5    2  3
x x x x x
þ 24:191
9:418 : (1) A ¼3
2 : (3)
Liso Liso Liso Liso Liso
In addition, the shape and area distribution functions of the isolator In this paper, the entrance shape is a ring-sector originated from a hyper-
are cubic polynomial shown in Eq. (2) and quartic polynomial shown sonic inlet in Ref. 22, of which the aspect ratio is 31.5 and that of the exit
in Eq. (3), respectively, is 3.6. The three-dimensional view of the curved isolator with sidewall

Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400 34, 116106-3

Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
 Physics of Fluids
contraction from different perspectives are displayed in Fig. 3. The other
specific design parameters of the isolator are shown in Table I.
III. NUMERICAL SETUPS
A. Numerical methods
In the current study, the commercial computational fluid
dynamic software ANSYS FLUENT, based on the finite volume
method, is used to solve the three-dimensional compressible
Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The j–x SST turbulence
model37 is selected, and the molecular viscosity coefficient is modeled
using the Sutherland formula. The implicit scheme is used for time-
marching to accelerate convergence. Roe’s scheme is used to calculate
inviscid convective fluxes, and the second-order upwind scheme is
applied for spatial discretization of the governing equations. During
the calculation, the average static pressure and Mach number of the
exit plane are monitored. When the two monitored parameters no
longer change and the residuals decrease by four orders of magnitude,
the calculation is considered to be convergent and stable.
Considering the symmetry of the isolator model, only half of the
model is selected for simulation. As shown in Fig. 4(a), hexahedral
TABLE I. Parameters of the isolator.
Parameter (mm) Value
Liso 460.77
Hiso 62.33
Went 269.26
Hent 8.55
Wexi 115.96
Hexi 32.00
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
FIG. 3. Curved isolator with sidewall
contraction.
cells are filled in the whole domain. The grids are refined near the wall,
and the height of the first-layer near-wall grid is set to 0.01 mm to meet
the requirements of yþ  1 and zþ  1. As shown in Fig. 4(b), the
pressure far-field boundary is adopted at the entrance of the isolator,
and the pressure-outlet boundary is adopted at the exit of the isolator.
All solid surfaces are set as no-slip adiabatic walls, and symmetry
boundary is adopted for the symmetry plane of the isolator. Since the
curved isolator with sidewall contraction studied in this paper is
extracted from a hypersonic inlet/isolator, which is designed to cruse at
the Mach number of 7.0.22 The incoming airflow goes through a series
of shock and compression waves to the entrance of the isolator, the
average Mach number at that cross section reduces to 3.46. Therefore,
30 August 2023 06:46:06
the Mach number distribution at the entrance used in computation is
given by a profile with an average Mach number of 3.46 to simulate the
actual boundary layer at the entrance, in which the thickness of the
boundary layer constitutes 30% of the height of the isolator entrance.
B. Validation of the numerical method
and grid sensitivity analysis
The experimental results of a curved isolator with a radius of
0.16 m in Ref. 14 are selected to validate the accuracy of the aforemen-
tioned numerical method, in which the actual Mach number is 4.92
and the backpressure is 30 times of the incoming static pressure.
Figure 5 presents the experimental and numerical schlieren images,
and the corresponding surface pressure distributions are illustrated in
Fig. 6. The internal flows, especially the reflected shock and shock train
structures, obtained using the numerical method are basically consis-
tent with the experimental results, so as to the surface pressure distri-
butions. Therefore, the numerical method utilized in this paper can
accurately capture the main flow structures in the curved isolator.
Furthermore, grid sensitivity is performed in detail. Three grid
sets of the isolator designed herein are generated with a total grid
FIG. 4. Mesh and boundary conditions:
(a) mesh diagram and (b) computational
domain and boundary conditions.
34, 116106-4
 Physics of Fluids
FIG. 5. Comparison of internal flow structures: experimental schlieren image (bottom)
and numerical schlieren image (top).
FIG. 6. Comparison of experimental and numerical surface pressure distributions.
number of 2, 7, and 15  106 namely, coarse, fine, and dense, respec-
tively. The related surface pressure distributions on the symmetry
plane of the three grids are compared and shown in Fig. 7. Comparing
the numerical results of the three grids, no apparent difference in the
overall trend of pressure distributions is found. In addition, the pres-
sure distributions with fine and dense grids are almost identical,
whereas a tiny discrepancy in pressure distributions is found between
the coarse and fine grids. Considering the elaborate flow structures in
the isolator and acceptable calculating time, in subsequent analysis, the
fine grid is selected for the simulation of the curved isolator with side-
wall contraction.
IV. RESULTS
A. Glancing shock wave/boundary layer interaction
in the sidewall-contraction isolator
In order to analyze the impact of glancing shock wave/boundary
layer interaction (GSWBLI) on the downstream shock train, the flow
characteristics of GSWBLI in-state without backpressure, which is the
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
FIG. 7. Comparison of surface pressure distributions on the symmetry plane with
different grid sets.
primary flow structure upstream the shock train, need to be discussed
adequately first. The near-wall streamlines and surface pressure contours
in-state without backpressure are shown in Fig. 8. Due to the contraction
of the sidewall, a three-dimensional glancing shock forms with a local
30 August 2023 06:46:06
high-pressure region (p/pent > 1.5), which can be noticed near the side-
wall. The glancing shock interacts with the bottom and upper boundary
layers, which forces the boundary layer to separate, yielding a classic
GSWBLI. Consequently, a separation line, which is the manifestation of
the flow separation induced by the glancing shock,38 appears on both the
upper and bottom surfaces, driving the low-momentum flow near the
sidewall to migrate to the symmetry plane. The GSWBLI will also roll up
vortices at the feet of the glancing shock on the upper and bottom surfa-
ces, which migrate along the glancing shock39 as shown in Fig. 9 (the
vortices are identified by the Q criterion introduced in Ref. 40 with the
value of Q ¼ 105 in green and the high-speed regions are exhibited by
iso-surface with Ma ¼ 3.5 in red). When the vortices developed from
both sides meet on the symmetry plane, they further develop into a pair
of streamwise vortices. Thus, an evident low-momentum flow accumula-
tion phenomenon can be observed near the symmetry plane of the isola-
tor in-state without backpressure.
Then, the glancing shock reflects on the symmetry plane further.
Likewise, the reflected shock interacts with the upper and bottom
boundary layer, inducing GSWBLI again in the rear part of the isola-
tor, which forms another two conical vortices. Compared with the first
separation line, the deflection angle across the new separation line is
smaller, that is, the reflected shock is weaker than the glancing shock.
In order to illustrate the flow structure more intuitively, the GSWBLI
in-state without backpressure is exhibited in Fig. 8(c).
In conclusion, in-state without backpressure, the complicated
flow structures in the curved isolator with sidewall contraction, differ-
ent from those in the straight isolator, are dominated by the internal
successive GSWBLI, and four pairs of vortices are induced by the
shocks, as illustrated in Fig. 10. Moreover, the total pressure loss in the
isolator increases evidently because of the existence of successive
GSWBLI and such vortices.
34, 116106-5
 Physics of Fluids
FIG. 9. Three-dimensional vortex tubes and high-speed region (Ma > 3.5) in-state
without backpressure.
FIG. 10. Schematic of flow structures in-state without backpressure.
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
FIG. 8. Flow structures in-state without
backpressure. (a) Near-wall streamlines
on the upper surface. (b) Near-wall
streamlines on the bottom surface. (c)
Schematic of wave system.
To observe the migration characteristics of high- and low-
momentum flow in the isolator under the impact of GSWBLI, sev-
eral spatial pathlines originated from the points at the entrance are
traced. The pathlines are tracked from the entrance of the isolator,
and they are divided into two types according to their origins in the
entrance, i.e., the main flow pathlines and low-momentum flow
30 August 2023 06:46:06
pathlines, as shown in Fig. 11. As shown in Fig. 12, the trajectories of
the main flow pathlines (red color) are almost parallel and smooth,
indicating that the lateral motion is not evident. The intersection
points of these red pathlines on the exit plane are calculated and
shown in black. In addition, the black line lies in the high-speed
region, i.e., the glancing shock and its reflected shock have tiny
effects on the core flow. The pathlines near the sidewall, marked
with blue, severely deviate from the sidewall to the symmetry plane
because of the glancing shock. Then, these fluids, which are forced
by the reflected shock of glancing shock, deflected back, and kept
almost parallel to the symmetry plane. The intersection points
between these blue pathlines and the exit plane are shown in white.
The white line is located in the low-speed region, indicating that the
increase in the aforementioned boundary layer is primarily associ-
ated with the motion of the fluids near the sidewall driven by the
glancing shock.
Due to the GSWBLI and the aforementioned flow-migration
pattern, the high- and low-speed fluids are redistributed, which
behaves differently with that in straight isolator.41,42 As shown in
Fig. 13, the thickness of the boundary layer slightly increases on the
fore part of the isolator with the increasing core flow Mach number
because of the area expansion of the cross sections. However, caused
by the GSWBLI, the streamwise vortices always locates near the
symmetry plane, which widens the local low-speed region.
Moreover, the glancing shock weakens when the supersonic flow
moves to the aft part of the isolator, where the contraction of the
sidewall becomes moderate. However, as the supersonic flow trans-
fers further to the downstream, the surface of the sidewall gradually
expands in the spanwise direction, which generates a series of expan-
sion waves downstream of GSWBLI, accelerating the airflow to form
a high-speed region near the sidewall in Fig. 13.
34, 116106-6
 Physics of Fluids
FIG. 11. The origins of two types of pathlines.
B. Flow patterns of shock train/glancing
shock/boundary layer interaction in the isolator
With the increase in the backpressure, the shock train begins to
form from the exit and exhibits evident transverse asymmetry, as
shown in Figs. 14–16. When the backpressure is 3pent (pent and pexi are
the static pressures at the entrance and exit, respectively), the shock
train locates at about x ¼ 0.41Liso. Due to the upstream centerline cur-
vature of the isolator, the separation bubble induced by the leading
shock of the shock train near the bottom surface is slightly larger than
that near the upper surface. Consequently, the high-speed region of
the shock train initially deflects toward the upper surface. After the
leading shock, the high-speed region of shock train then deflects back
to the middle of the isolator because of the reverse of centerline curva-
ture, which leads the flow downstream of the shock train to be more
symmetry along transverse direction. When the backpressure ranges
from 5pent to 10pent, the shock train moves upstream from
x ¼ 0.282Liso to about x ¼ 0.035Liso with the main flow generally
deflecting to the upper surface. The surface pressure distributions are
presented in Fig. 16. As can be seen, the upper surface pressure distri-
bution, which is affected by the shock and expansion waves in the
shock train, oscillates along the flow but basically exhibiting an ascend-
ing trend. Moreover, on the bottom surface, owing to the accumula-
tion of low-momentum flows, the pressure distribution exhibits a
monotonously increase, as can be observed in Fig. 16(b).
However, the three-dimensional structure of the shock train is
fairly complicated. When the shock train moves to the upstream of the
reflection point of glancing shock (for example, pexi ¼ 5pent), a typical
shock train/glancing shock/boundary layer interaction (STGSBLI)
FIG. 12. Pathlines originated from entrance in-state without backpressure: (a) upper surface and (b) bottom surface.
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
FIG. 13. Mach number contours on different cross sections and the symmetry
plane in-state without backpressure.
occurs inevitably, leading to a large streamwise position discrepancy
along spanwise direction in Fig. 17. Specially, the shock train can be
divided into two parts, i.e., the center part adjacent to the symmetry
plane and the side part near the sidewall. For the center part of the
shock train, it interacts with the glancing shock. As the pressure rise
30 August 2023 06:46:06
(1.74) of the leading shock of the center part is higher than that of
the glancing shock (1.48), a reflected shock, originated from the
point N marked in Fig. 17, is formed to balance the pressure. The
occurrence of the glancing shock and its reflected shock pre-
compresses the airflow, yielding a shorter and hysteretic side part of
the shock train. As the backpressure increases to 7pent, the shock train
is closer to the entrance, resulting in a wider center part of the shock
train, as shown in Fig. 17(b). Consequently, the intersection point N of
the glancing shock and its reflected shock moves closer to the sidewall
with the multi-shock system confined to a narrower region.
Interestingly, though the shock train is quite three-
dimensional, the center part behaves in a quasi-two-dimensional
manner. As can be seen from Fig. 17, the lateral pressure gradient is
relatively tiny in the center part region (on the right of point N). To
further demonstrate such feature, three slices with z/Wexi ¼ 0, 0.3,
and 0.6 under the backpressure of 7pent, are cut from the domain.
The corresponding Mach number contours and surface pressure
34, 116106-7
 Physics of Fluids ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf

FIG. 14. Mach number contours on the

symmetry plane and exit under different
backpressures.

30 August 2023 06:46:06

FIG. 15. Density gradient contours on the
symmetry plane under different
backpressures.

distributions are compared in Figs. 18 and 19. As can be seen, the shock-expansion waves within the shock train, a tiny discrepancy
center part of the shock train maintains an identical wave configu- of pressure can be noticed in the upper surface of the center part
ration and streamwise position in different spanwise slices. Since in Fig. 19(a), whereas the bottom flow in the center part is prelimi-
the surface pressure on the upper surface is dominated by the narily low-momentum flow, of which the pressure increases

FIG. 16. Pressure distributions on the

symmetry plane along the upper and bot-
tom surfaces under different backpres-
sures: (a) upper surface and (b) bottom
surface.

Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400 34, 116106-8

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 Physics of Fluids
FIG. 17. Surface pressure contours under different backpressures: (a) pexi/pent ¼ 5 and (b) pexi/pent ¼ 7.
monotonously, and there is almost no difference between these sli-
ces, as exhibited in Fig. 19(b).
C. Flow migration in the shock train/glancing
shock/boundary layer interaction region
Due to the aforementioned two parts of the shock train in the
STGSBLI region, the migration characteristics of high- and low-
momentum flows in the isolator show different tendencies and are
exhibited in Fig. 20 (the meanings of all colors and lines in Fig. 20 are
consistent with those in Fig. 12). As shown in Fig. 20, the trajectories
of the main flow pathlines (red color) have no lateral migration under
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
different backpressures, which further indicates the quasi-two-dimen-
sional characteristics of the center part of the shock train. Affected by
the STGSBLI, the lateral pressure gradient caused by the glancing
shock is terminated at the intersection point N in Fig. 20(a), which is
the boundary of the center part of the shock train. Consequently,
when the backpressure is 5pent, the lateral migration of low-
momentum flow from the sidewall (blue color) does not reach the
symmetry plane, and it is terminated at the boundary of the center
part of the shock train, as shown in Figs. 20(a) and 20(b). In addition,
when the backpressure increases to 7pent, the side part of the shock
train is confined in a narrower region, leading to the shortening of the
distance of the lateral migration of low-momentum flow from the
30 August 2023 06:46:06
FIG. 18. Mach number contours on differ-
ent spanwise cross section with the back-
pressure of 7pent: (a) different spanwise
cross sections and (b) Mach number
contours.
34, 116106-9
 Physics of Fluids
sidewall, as shown in Figs. 20(c) and 20(d). Therefore, the STGSBLI
contributes to the difference of flow structures in two regions. Near
the symmetry plane, the flow structure is dominated by the center part
of the shock train with quasi-two-dimensional feature, in which the
airflow is relatively uniform with no lateral migration. However, near
the sidewall, the airflow is dominated by the multi-shock system and
the side part of the shock train with evident lateral migration.
Distinct flow-migration patterns in the two parts of the shock
train result in different distributions of high- and low-momentum
flows in the STGSBLI region. To evidently observe this phenomenon,
two iso-surfaces, with the Mach number values of 0.2 and 1.0, which
stands for the low- and high-momentum flows, respectively, are drawn
in Fig. 21. In Fig. 21, due to the evident lateral migration from the
FIG. 20. Pathlines originated from entrance under different backpressures: (a) pexi/pent ¼ 5, upper surface; (b) pexi/pent ¼ 5, bottom surface; (c) pexi/pent ¼ 7, upper surface;
and (d) pexi/pent ¼ 7, bottom surface.
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
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ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
FIG. 19. Pressure distributions on differ-
ent spanwise cross section when the
backpressure is 7pent: (a) upper surface
and (b) bottom surface.
sidewall, the low-momentum flow principally accumulates in the cen-
ter region, exhibiting quasi-two-dimensional feature. However, the
supersonic high-speed flow shaded with red color lies near the side-
wall, which represents the aforementioned glancing shock, reflected
shock and the side part of the shock train region. Since the side part of
the shock train exhibits a hysteretic effect, compared with the center
part of the shock train, the supersonic region extends longer along
streamwise direction than that in the center part, terminating at the
exit of the isolator. When the backpressure increases to 7pent, the influ-
30 August 2023 06:46:06
ence range of STGSBLI evidently shrinks, and the streamwise hyster-
etic effect of the side part of the shock train is generally weakened,
causing the forward movement of the supersonic region in the side
part of the shock train. In consequence, the deceleration caused by the
34, 116106-10
 Physics of Fluids
side part of the shock train is enhanced, contributing to the reduction
in the velocity gradient between the high- and low-momentum flows,
which ultimately results in a weaker mixing effect between them.
Therefore, the high- and low-momentum flow distribution on
the exit of isolator differs from that in the straight isolator. Figure 22
compares the exit flow Mach number contours with different back-
pressures. As can be seen, the high-speed flows principally distribute
near the both sidewalls, especially when the backpressure is 5pent in
Fig. 22(a). Nevertheless, the low-speed flows with less spanwise gra-
dients in velocity predominantly accumulate near the symmetry plane,
the range of which progressively extends with the rise of the backpres-
sure in Figs. 22(b)–22(d), existing as a manifestation of the quasi-two-
FIG. 22. Mach number contours on the exit (mirrored by the symmetry plane)
under different backpressures: (a) pexi/pent ¼ 5, (b) pexi/pent ¼ 7, (c) pexi/pent ¼ 9,
And (d) pexi/pent ¼ 10.
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
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FIG. 21. Mach number contours, low-
momentum region (Ma < 0.2) and super-
sonic region (Ma > 1) under different
backpressures: (a) pexi/pent ¼ 5 and (b)
pexi/pent ¼ 7.
dimensional characteristics of the center part. As the backpressure
ascends from 5pent to 10pent, the total pressure recovery coefficient on
the symmetry plane of the exit progressively increases approximately
by 37.5%, as shown in Fig. 23. Actually, this is principally due to the
fact that the Mach number ahead of the shock train decrease from
3.62 to 3.46, which reduces the pressure loss of the shocks and the skin
friction behind of the shock train. Meanwhile, as the shock train
moves upstream, the glancing shock as well as its reflected shock is
confined into a narrower region; thus, the related pressure loss
30 August 2023 06:46:06
decreases. Dissimilarly, at a certain backpressure, the total pressure
recovery coefficient on the symmetry plane of the exit exhibits evident
uniformity in the transverse direction with merely little discrepancies
in Fig. 23.
D. Centerline curvature on the STGSBLI phenomenon
in curved sidewall-contraction isolators
The aforementioned analysis reveals that both the glancing shock
generated by the sidewall contraction and the shock train induced by
FIG. 23. Total pressure distributions on the symmetry plane of the exit.
34, 116106-11
 Physics of Fluids ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf

FIG. 24. Curved sidewall-contraction isolators with different centerline functions.

the rising backpressure contribute to the formation of the STGSBLI, side view of the curved sidewall-contraction isolators with different
which indicates that this phenomenon is the dominated flow in the centerline shapes
 2  3
sidewall-contraction isolator. To demonstrate its universality, several y x x x
isolators with different centerline shapes are designed by the methods ¼
0:323 þB þ ð4B
6:45Þ
Hiso Liso Liso Liso
introduced in Sec. II. The centerline shapes are mainly determined by  4  5
the parameter B as presented in Eq. (4). If B ¼
3, Eq. (4) equals to x x
þ ð
5B þ 9:19Þ þ ð2B
3:42Þ : (4)
Eq. (1), which corresponds to the baseline isolator analyzed above. If Liso Liso
B ¼ 3, the centerline shape is almost a straight line. As the value of B The flow structures in these isolators with different centerlines
decreases, the isolator bends more severely. Figure 24 compares the are exhibited in Fig. 25. It can be discovered that the flow structures of

30 August 2023 06:46:06

FIG. 25. Wall pressure distributions and Mach number contours of isolators with different centerlines when the backpressure is 5pent.

Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400 34, 116106-12

Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
 Physics of Fluids
STGSBLI in sidewall-contraction isolators with different centerlines
are similar, with a center part of the shock train near the symmetry
plane and a multi-shock system including a glancing shock, reflected
shock, and the side part of the shock train near the sidewall. Despite
the centerline shapes, the high- and low-momentum fluids are located
at the side and center part of the isolator respectively, which resembles
to that introduced in the baseline isolator. Moreover, the trends of the
pressure distributions on different spanwise cross sections, as shown
in Fig. 26, are consistent with each other in sidewall-contraction isola-
tors with different centerlines, which further validates the universality
of the quasi-two-dimensional characteristics of the center part of the
shock train in STGSBLI.
E. Discussion on the quasi-two-dimensional flow
structure in the STGSBLI
Based on the preceding discussions, the center part of the shock
train exhibits evident quasi-two-dimensional characteristics under dif-
ferent backpressures, although the flow structures near the sidewall are
fairly complex, including the multi-shock system with distinct lateral
migration. The dominant mechanism for the quasi-two-dimensional
flow structures in the STGSBLI needs further discussion.
Under the swept effect of glancing shock in the STGSBLI, the
low-momentum flow (boundary layer and vortices) is induced to
migrate laterally from the sidewall to the symmetry plane, leading to
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
FIG. 26. Bottom pressure distributions on
different spanwise cross sections with dif-
ferent centerlines when the backpressure
is 5pent: (a) B ¼ 3, (b) B ¼ 0, (c) B ¼
3,
and (d) B ¼
5.
30 August 2023 06:46:06
the redistribution of low-momentum flow. Thus, the low-momentum
flow accumulates near the symmetry plane, of which the ability to
resist the adverse pressure gradient is much weaker than high-
momentum flow. Consequently, when the backpressure ascends and
the center part of the shock train moves upstream, the low-
momentum flow generally decelerates to low subsonic after the inter-
action with the center part of the shock train in Fig. 21. As shown in
the figure, the low-momentum flow begins to form after the leading
shock of the center part of the shock train and gradually accumulates
along the streamwise direction. Furthermore, in the region dominated
by the subsonic flow, the pressure disturbance will rapidly propagate
to the adjacent domains. Consequently, the spanwise pressure gradient
gradually weakens in these subsonic regions, as shown in Fig. 27,
which directly contributes to the quasi-two-dimensional flow struc-
tures in the STGSBLI.
V. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, a curved isolator with sidewall contraction of a
hypersonic scramjet is extracted and simplified. Numerical simulations
are conducted with an entrance Mach number of 3.46 to capture the
primary flow structures, and the dominant mechanism of the glancing
shock/boundary layer interaction (GSWBLI) on the shock train in the
isolator is analyzed in depth.
The lateral contraction of the sidewall generates a strong glancing
shock, which forms a glancing shock wave/boundary layer interaction
34, 116106-13
 Physics of Fluids
(GSWBLI), resulting in the separation of the local boundary layer. The
GSWBLI rolls up vortices adjacent to the symmetry plane on upper
and bottom surfaces and drives them to migrate along the glancing
shock. Once these vortices meet on the symmetry plane, they further
develop into two pairs of streamwise vortices, contributing to an evi-
dent accumulation of low-momentum flow near the symmetry plane.
Then, the glancing shocks from both sides reflect on the symmetry
plane, which induces GSWBLI again in the aft part of the isolator, roll-
ing up another two vortices on upper and bottom surfaces along the
reflected shock. Therefore, in-state without backpressure, the flows in
this curved isolator with sidewall contraction are dominated by the
internal successive GSWBLI with four pairs of vortices, which evi-
dently increases the total pressure loss in the isolator.
When the backpressure increases, the shock train begins to form
from the exit and exhibits evident transverse asymmetry with the
increase in the backpressure, which is affected by the centerline curva-
ture of the isolator. As the shock train propagates upstream, it interacts
with the glancing shock and the vortices inevitably, forming a typical
shock train/glancing shock/boundary layer interaction (STGSBLI)
phenomenon. In the STGSBLI region, the shock train can be divided
into distinctive two parts, i.e., a center part near the symmetry plane
and a side part near the sidewall. As for the center part of the shock
train, it behaves in a quasi-two-dimensional manner, in which the
main flow is relatively uniform without apparent lateral migration.
Near the sidewall, a glancing shock-expansion waves-reflected shock
configuration exists, followed by the side part of the shock train, in
which the lateral migration of the low-momentum flow from the side-
wall is evident. The quasi-two-dimensional region enlarges and
extends to the sidewall when the shock train travels upstream. In addi-
tion, the quasi-two-dimensional feature of the shock train is primarily
associated with the STGSBLI, in which the swept effect of glancing
shock forces the low-momentum subsonic flow to principally accumu-
late near the symmetry plane, thereby weakening the spanwise pres-
sure gradient in the center part. Due to the STGSBLI, the high- and
low-speed flow distribution differs from that in straight isolator, with
the low-speed flow preliminarily accumulates near the symmetry plane
and the high-speed flow locates near the sidewall. Though the duct
curvature changes, the STGSBLI is validated to be a dominant and
universal physical phenomenon in isolator with sidewall contraction.
Phys. Fluids 34, 116106 (2022); doi: 10.1063/5.0120400
Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing
ARTICLE scitation.org/journal/phf
FIG. 27. Spanwise pressure gradient con-
tours under different backpressures: (a)
pexi/pent ¼ 5 and (b) pexi/pent ¼ 7.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (Grant Nos. 51906104, 12272177, and U20A2070), the
National Science and Technology Major Project (No. J2019-II-0014-
0035), 1912 Project (Nos. 2019-JCJQ-DA-001-067 and 2019-JCJQ-DA-
001-164), the Foundation of National Key Laboratory of Transient
Physics (No. 6142604200212), and the priority academic program
development of Jiangsu higher education institutions.
30 August 2023 06:46:06
AUTHOR DECLARATIONS
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflicts to disclose.
Author Contributions
Gang Liang: Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (lead); Methodology
(lead); Validation (lead); Writing – original draft (lead). He-xia Huang:
Conceptualization (equal); Funding acquisition (equal); Resources
(equal); Supervision (equal); Writing – review & editing (equal). Hui-jun
Tan: Funding acquisition (equal); Project administration (equal);
Resources (equal). Zhong-qi Luo: Visualization (supporting); Writing –
review & editing (supporting). Xue-bin Tang: Resources (equal).
Can-min Li: Software (equal); Visualization (equal). Jia Cai: Formal
analysis (equal); Methodology (equal); Resources (equal).
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