Shneider 2004 benchmark decision | 5 October 2026
Status: NOT VALIDATED AGAINST THE PUBLISHED COUPLED INLET CASE.

Source: M.N. Shneider, S.O. Macheret, R.B. Miles, AIAA Journal42 (2004),
2303-2310, DOI https://doi.org/10.2514/1.3998 . Complete author-uploaded
journal text was read through ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228953902_Analysis_of_Magnetohydrodynamic_Control_of_Scramjet_Inlets
PDF-link retrieval failed; no complete source copy is redistributed.

Selected source data, not new simulation results
Table2, printed2308: no-MHD throat/freestream total-pressure ratios at
Mach5/8/10 are .855/.316/.161. These use stream-thrust averaging (sectionII,
printed2305). They belong to a Mach5-design four-ramp inlet with 2-degree
angle of attack and q=2000psf, not a normal-shock-only inlet. The corresponding
MHD ratios at Mach8/10,K=.5 are .226/.107. Table3 Mach10,K=.5 gives Lorentz
work105.8, electric52.89, translational32.28, vibrational20.6 and beam18.01
MW/m. These are published computations, not measurements. Table1's p0,T0
denote freestream STATIC state, despite the subscript0.

Meaningful check completed
reproduce_shneider_source_check.py checks the published power split and
contrasts the boundary problems. Electric+translational+vibrational equals
105.77MW/m, differing from105.8 by0.0284%, consistent with rounded reporting.
K times Lorentz work is52.90MW/m versus52.89 reported. This checks arithmetic
and compatibility with the ideal Faraday split; it does not predict either
power from physical inlet inputs. Beam power is not a complete wall-plug cost.

Our normal-shock-only model at the three Mach numbers yields recoveries
.0617163/.00848783/.00304475, very different from the complete inlet values.
Its downstream flow is subsonic, whereas the source's throat is supersonic.
This is a structural boundary mismatch, not a failed like-for-like validation.
Inserting a source recovery directly supplies a literature anchor; it does not
turn the reduced flow calculation into reproduction of that source.

Required before a genuine matched prediction
Represent the ramp/cowl flow boundaries, nonuniform incoming state, spatial
field/conductivity, plasma and vibrational kinetics, captured mass and source
averaging procedure. Supply reusable boundary/field fixtures and compare an
output not used to adjust model parameters. None of these capabilities follows
from the present constant-area, scalar-conductivity solver. Fitting sigma to
one reported output would be calibration and cannot qualify as validation.

Use the recovery values only as geometry-specific computed anchors. No generic
realistic recovery law for all Mach5-10 inlets has been established here.
Full machine-readable source selections, computed differences and limitations
are in shneider-validation-v3.json; rerun the supplied script to reproduce.