Performance Studies of a Pulse Detonation Rocket Engine for Use As an Unsteady Ejector in a Rocket-Based Combined Cycle Engine

摘要

An experimental investigation of the ejector mode of an unsteady pulse detonation rocket-based combined cycle engine is currently underway in order to determine the pulse detonation engine's viability as a suitable candidate for the ejector mode of a combined cycle engine for space propulsion. These experimental efforts at The Pennsylvania State University will complement concurrent NASA computational studies that have predicted that the pulse detonation rocket-based combined cycle engine configuration will elicit better performance than that of a conventional rocket-based combined cycle engine. A high-frequency, gaseous hydrogen-oxygen pulse detonation rocket engine was designed and fabricated as an ejector for a modular two-dimensional planar rocket-based combined cycle nozzle duct. Verification of operation of the baseline pulse detonation rocket engine was done by extensive single and multiple cycle experimentation at frequencies of up to 120 Hz at 2 bar fill pressure. High frequency pressure measurements taken at multiple locations along the rocket and high speed movies of the internal detonative flow were acquired. This data was used in the design of the integrated pulse detonation rocket-based combined cycle engine configuration and will be compared to NASA modeling efforts of the baseline engine.