Pulsed Hydrojet Propulsion

摘要

The pulsed hydrojet is a device in which the water ingested from the free stream is accelerated out of the exhaust pipe to produce thrust. In this report we describe and analyze a way of accelerating the stream of water with pockets of high pressure steam and gas generated inside the stream by an exothermal reaction of suitable propellant injected and dispersed in the water. The velocity increment that must be imparted to the water to produce a substantial thrust need not be very large because the density of the water is comparable to the average density of the accelerated body. Results of the numerical modeling of the proposed jet acceleration mechanism indicate that the hydrojet propulsion device is potentially capable of propelling underwater projectiles at speeds three to five times greater than those currently attainable. Several promising applications of the hydrojet thruster are discussed and evaluated. (ERA citation 10:031742)