Evaluation of an Ejector Ramjet Based Propulsion System for Air-Breathing Hypersonic Flight

摘要

A Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) engine system is designed to combine the high thrust to weight ratio of a rocket along with the high specific impulse of a ramjet in a single, integrated propulsion system. This integrated, combined cycle propulsion system is designed to provide higher vehicle performance than that achievable with a separate rocket and ramjet. The strutjet is an ejector-ramjet engine in which small rocket chambers are embedded into the trailing edges of the inlet compression struts. The focus of this study is to develop and demonstrate a strutjet flowpath using hydrocarbon fuel at up to Mach 7 conditions. Freejet tests of a candidate flowpath for this RBCC engine were conducted at the NASA Lewis Research Center's Hypersonic Tunnel Facility between July and September 1996. This paper describes the engine flowpath and installation, outlines the primary objectives of the program, and describes the overall results of this activity. Through this program, 15 full duration tests, including 13 fueled tests were made.