Flight Demonstration of Pulse Detonation Engine Using Sounding Rocket S-520-31 in Space

Buyakofu, Valentin; Matsuoka, K.; Matsuyama, Koichi; Kawasaki, Akira; Watanabe, Hiroaki; Itouyama, Noboru; Goto, Keisuké; Ishihara, Kaoru; Noda, Tomoyuki; Kasahara, Jiro; Matsuo, Akiko; Funaki, Ikkoh; Nakata, Daisuke; Uchiumi, Masaharu; Habu, Hiroto; Takeuchi, Shinsuke; Arakawa, Satoshi; Masuda, Junichi; Maehara, Kenji; Nakao, Tatsuro; Yamada, Kazuhiko

doi:10.2514/1.a35394

Cited by 9 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…Since RDEs have attracted extensive attention as potential fuelers of aerospace and weapons, researchers are focusing on further enhancing the performance of RDEs, such as the propellant injection [3][4][5], combustor geometry [6][7][8][9], method of ignition [10][11][12], and formation mechanism of the rotating detonation wave (RDW) [10,13]. In addition, the rotating detonation rocket engines [14,15], scramjet engines [16][17][18], and turbine engines [19,20] have been built as experimental prototypes to promote engineering application, but the running time of RDEs is limited to seconds due to the harsh thermal environment. Due to the higher thermal efficiency of RDEs, the heat load in the rotating detonation combustor (RDC) is much higher and more complex than that of detonation engines, and traditional cooling modes are not suitable for the traveling detonation zone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation of Thermal Prediction and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Two-Phase RDE during Long-Duration Operation

Wang,

Song,

Chen

et al. 2024

Energies

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Accurately predicting the thermal characteristics and heat transfer distribution of the rotating detonation engine (RDE) and acquiring a clear understanding of the performance and mechanism of the rotating detonation are of great significance for achieving the safe and reliable long-duration operation of RDEs. Using RP-3 as fuel, a long-duration experimental study is performed on a 220 mm-diameter RDC to investigate the details with respect to the thermal environment. The heat flux at the typical location and the average heat flux of both the inner and outer cylinders are measured, respectively. Meanwhile, the peak pressure of the rotating detonation wave (RDW) and specific thrust are analyzed. When the ER is between 0.5 and 1 (oxidizer 2 kg/s), the stable rotating detonation mode is obtained, and the detonation duration is set as 40 s to accurately calculate the heat released by the detonation combustion. The heat flux in the upstream region of the RDW location ranges from 2.40 × 105 W/m2 to 3.17 × 105 W/m2, and the heat flux in the downstream area of the RDW location ranges from 1.05 × 106 W/m2 to 1.28 × 106 W/m2. The results demonstrate the important role of the detonation combustion zone, and the thrust performance of RDC can be improved by making the RDW move forward along the RDC axis, which is the optimal direction of detonation combustion. Through a comparison of average heat flux under different conditions, it is found that the heat released by the RDC is directly related to its thrust. In addition, the average heat flux of the inner cylinder is about three times that of the outer cylinder for the two-phase RDC with a Tesla valve intake structure, indicating that the high-temperature combustion product is closer to the inner wall. Therefore, more thermal protection should be allocated to the inner cylinder, and a more systematic analysis of the two-phase flow field distribution in the annular combustion chamber should be carried out to improve the thrust performance. In this paper, the average heat flux of the inner and outer cylinders of the RDC as well as the typical local heat flux of the outer cylinders is quantitatively measured by means of experiments, which not only deepens the understanding of RDC flow field distribution, but also provides quantitative boundary conditions for the thermal protection design of RDCs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation of Thermal Prediction and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Two-Phase RDE during Long-Duration Operation

Wang,

Song,

Chen

et al. 2024

Energies

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Experimental demonstration on detonation initiation by laser ignition and shock focusing in elliptical cavity

Sato,

Matsuoka,

Kawasaki

et al. 2023

Shock Waves

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As a method of initiating detonation in a short distance with a small amount of energy, the combination of laser ignition and shock focusing in an elliptical cavity was proposed and experimentally demonstrated with a $$\hbox {C}_{2}\hbox {H}_{4}{-}\hbox {O}_{2}$$ C 2 H 4 - O 2 mixture at 100 kPa and 297 K. In the experiment, an elliptical cavity and single rectangular cavities of different heights were used, and their flow-field patterns were visualized using high-speed schlieren imaging. Detonation initiation was achieved in the case of the elliptical cavity, and based on the Mach number change of the leading shock wave, two propagation phases were verified: the deceleration and acceleration phases. The deceleration phase was driven merely by the gasdynamic effect, wherein the initial shock wave (ISW) expanded spherically, and the acceleration phase began when the ISW shifted to planar propagation. In the acceleration phase, although gradual acceleration was observed in rectangular cavities, rapid acceleration occurred in the elliptical cavity. From the schlieren images, the second acceleration was caused not only by the concave reflected shock wave’s catching up with the ISW, but also by the fast-flames that were generated along the cavity corners and engulfed the ISW in the converging section of the elliptical cavity.

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Effect of channel expansion angle near injector outlet on a rotating detonation engine performance

Nakajima,

Matsuoka,

Itouyama

et al. 2024

Shock Waves

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A rotating detonation engine (RDE) is expected to achieve a pressure gain (PG) in which the total pressure of the product at the engine exit exceeds the total pressure of the supplied oxidizer. However, many non-ideal phenomena exist in the RDE, which hinder the achievement of a PG. This study focused on the channel expansion angle near injector outlet which is considered to impact the structure of detonation wave and the PG performance. Combustion tests were conducted by varying the channel expansion angle near the axially injected oxidizer injector outlet to 90$$^{\circ }$$ ∘ and 30$$^{\circ }$$ ∘ . As a result, the thrust was not affected by the expansion angle, but the propagation velocity of detonation wave at an expansion angle of 90$$^{\circ }$$ ∘ was approximately 5% higher than that at an expansion angle of 30$$^{\circ }$$ ∘ . A comparison utilizing the pressure increase ratio obtained from the fluctuating pressure in the combustion chamber suggested that the Mach number of the detonation wave was higher for an expansion angle of 90$$^{\circ }$$ ∘ . As a result of evaluating the PG performance utilizing the equivalent available pressure obtained from thrust measurements, it was not confirmed to differ with changes in the expansion angle.

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Flight Demonstration of Pulse Detonation Engine Using Sounding Rocket S-520-31 in Space

Cited by 9 publications

References 24 publications

Experimental Investigation of Thermal Prediction and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Two-Phase RDE during Long-Duration Operation

Experimental Investigation of Thermal Prediction and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Two-Phase RDE during Long-Duration Operation

Experimental demonstration on detonation initiation by laser ignition and shock focusing in elliptical cavity

Effect of channel expansion angle near injector outlet on a rotating detonation engine performance

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