One of the major technological innovations that are necessary for faster and cheaper access-to-space will be the commercial realization of supersonic combustion jet engines (SCRAMJET). The establishment of the flow through the inlet is one the prime requirement for the success of a SCRAMJET engine. The flow through a SCRAMJET inlet is dominated by inviscid /viscous coupling, transition, shock-shock interaction, shock boundary layer interaction, blunt leading edge effects and flow profile effects. Although the literature is exhaustive on various aspects of flow features associated with SCRAMJET engines, very little is known on the fundamental gasdynamic features dictating the flow establishment in the SCRAMJET inlet. On one hand we need the reduction of flight Mach number to manageable supersonic values inside the SCRAMJET combustor, but on the other hand we have to achieve this with minimum total pressure loss. Hence the dynamics of ramp/cowl shock interaction process ahead of the inlet has a direct bearing on the quality and type of flow inside the SCRAMJET engine. There is virtually no data base in the open literature focusing specifically on the cowl/ramp shock interactions at hypersonic Mach numbers. Hence in this backdrop, the main aim of the present investigation is to systematically understand the ramp/cowl shock interaction processes in front of a generic inlet model. Since we are primarily concerned with the shock interaction process ahead of the cowl all the investigations are carried out without any fuel injection. Variable geometry is necessary if we want to operate the inlet for a wide range of Mach numbers in actual flight. The investigation mainly comprises of three variable geometry configurations; namely, variation of contraction ratios at 00 cowl (CR 8.4, 5.0 and 4.3), variation of cowl length for a given chamber height (four lengths of cowls at 10 mm chamber height) and variation of cowl angle (three angles cowl each for two chamber heights). The change in cowl configuration results in different ramp/cowl shock interaction processes affecting the performance of the inlet. Experiments are performed in IISc hypersonic shock tunnel HST 2 (test time ~ 1 ms) at two nominal Mach numbers 8.0 and 5.74 for design and off-design testing conditions. Exhaustive numerical simulations are also performed to compliment the experiments. Further the effect of concentrated energy deposition on forebody /cowl shock interactions has also been investigated. A 2D, planar, single ramp scramjet inlet model has been designed and fabricated along with various cowl geometries and tested in a hypersonic shock tunnel to characterize the forebody/cowl shock interaction process for different inlet configurations. Further a DC plasma power unit and a plasma torch have been designed, developed and fabricated to serve as energy source for conducting flow-alteration experiments in the inlet model. The V-I characteristics of the plasma torch is studied and an estimation of plasma temperature is also performed as a part of characterizing the plasma flame. Initial standardization experiments of blunt body flow field alteration using the plasma torch and hence its drag reduction, are performed to check the torch’s suitability to be used as a flow-altering device in a shock tunnel. The plasma torch is integrated successfully with the inlet model in a shock tunnel to perform experiments with plasma jet as the energy source. The above experiments are first of its kind to be conducted in a shock tunnel. They are performed at various pressure ratios and supply currents. Time resolved schlieren flow visualization using Phantom 7.1 (Ms Vision Research USA) high speed camera, surface static pressure measurements inside a generic inlet using miniature kulite transducer and surface convective heat transfer rate measurements inside a generic inlet using platinum thin film sensors deposited on Macor substrate are some of the shock tunnel flow diagnostics that have been used in this study. Some of the important conclusions from the study are: • Experiments performed at different contraction ratios show different shock patterns. At CR 8.4, the SOL condition is satisfied, but the flow gets choked due to over contraction and flow through inlet is not established. For CR 5.0, formation of a small Mach stem before the chamber is observed with the reflection point on the cowl and the weak reflected shock entering inside the chamber. The Mach stem grows with time. For CR 4.3, the forebody/cowl shock interference created an Edney’s Type II shock interaction pattern. However, at off-design conditions, for CR 5 the shock reflection is regular and at CR 4.3, the Edney’s Type II pattern lasts for a short time. • For all lengths of cowl tested, 131mm and 141mm showed Edney’s Type II shock interference where as 151mm showed Edney’s Type I pattern at design condition. In all cases the flow is choked for high contraction ratio. At off-design condition these shock patterns do not last for the entire test time but rather it becomes a lambda pattern with the normal shock before the inlet. • For inlet configurations with cowl angle other than 00, the flow is found to be established for all cases at designed condition and except for 100 cowl at off-design condition. • For CR 8.4 the peak value of pressure (~1.7x104 Pa) occurs at a location of 151mm, where as for CR 5.0 and 4.3 they occur at 188mm and 206mm having values ~1.6x104 Pa and ~1.4x104 Pa respectively. These locations indicate the likely locations of shock impingements inside the chamber. • For cowl angle of 00 for a 10 mm chamber the maximum pressure value recorded is ~1.7x104 Pa whereas for 100 and 200 cowl it is ~1.1x104 Pa and 1.2 x104 Pa respectively. This is because in the first case the inlet is choked because of over contraction whereas in the other two cases the CR is less and flow is established inside the inlet. • The average heat transfer rates of last four heat transfer gauges (180 mm, 190 mm, 200 mm and 210 mm from the forebody tip) for all lengths of cowls tested are found to be almost same (~ 20 W/cm2). This is because the flow is choked in all these cases. The numerical simulation also shows uniform distribution here, consistent with the experimental findings. • The locations of heat transfer peaks for 100 cowl at design condition can be observed to be occurring at 170 mm and 200 mm from the forebody tip having values ~44 W/cm2 and ~39 W/cm2 respectively. For a 200 cowl they seem to be occurring at 170 mm and 180 mm from the forebody tip having values ~50 W/cm2 and ~30 W/cm2. These locations indicate the likely locations of shock impingements inside the chamber. With the evolution of concept of upstream fuel injection in recent times these may the most appropriate locations for fuel injection. • At higher jet pressure ratios the plasma jet/ramp shock interaction results in a lambda shock pattern with the triple point forming vertically above the cowl level. This means the normal shock stands in front of the inlet making a part of the flow entering the inlet subsonic. The reflected shock from the triple point also separates the ramp boundary layer. • At lower jet pressure ratios the triple point is formed below the cowl level and the flow entering inside the inlet is supersonic. The reflected shock interacts with the cowl shock and a weak separation shock is seen. • Experiments are performed with concentrated DC electric discharge as energy source. Even though the amount of energy dumped here is less than 0.25% of the total energy it creates a perceptible disturbance in the flow. • Experiments are also performed to see the effect of electric discharge as energy source on height of Mach stem for a given inlet configuration. Deposition of energy in the present location does not seem to alter the Mach stem height. However more experiments need to be performed by varying the energy location to see its effect. Non-intrusive energy sources like microwave and lasers can be thought of as options for depositing energy to study its effect on Mach stem height. Since they provide more flexibility on varying the location of energy the optimum location of energy can be found out for highest reduction of Mach stem height.