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2011 was a pivotal year for high-speed air-breathing propulsion. X-51A WaveRider 1 attempted its second powered flight on June 13, 2011. The X-51A vehicle experienced a combustor / inlet un-start.
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High Speed Air Breathing Propulsion_2011 Year in Review
2011 was a pivotal year for high-speed air-breathing propulsion. X-51A WaveRider 1 attempted its second powered flight on June 13, 2011. The X-51A vehicle experienced a combustor / inlet un-start.
2011 was a pivotal year for high-speed air-breathing propulsion. X-51A WaveRider 1 attempted its second powered flight on June 13, 2011. The X-51A vehicle experienced a combustor / inlet un-start.
AIAA High Speed Air Breathing Propulsion Technical Committee
High Speed Air Breathing Propulsion -
2011 Year in Review by Dora Musielak December 1, 2011
Despite unforeseen challenges, economic woes, and natural disasters, 2011 was a pivotal year for high-speed air-breathing propulsion. What will we remember? The following are highlights of some of the most important events that shaped this technology in 2011. X-51A Waverider Aiming High and Fast!
The X-51A waverider 1
attempted its second powered flight on June 13, 2011. At 40.3 seconds after launch, the hypersonic vehicle experienced a combustor/inlet un-start and it continued to fly controlled, but unpowered, for an additional 97 seconds before impacting the Pacific Ocean. Exceptional telemetry data was acquired all the way to splashdown. The X-51A vehicles sub-systems worked as expected: B-52 safe separation, boost, booster separation, guidance and control, flight actuators, battery power sub-system, fuel system pressurization, and flight test instrumentation.
1 The X-51A program is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Boeing, and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The 7.9 m-long X-51A WaveRider, fueled by JP-7 jet fuel and powered by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdynes SJY61scramjet engine, achieved aviation history May 26, 2010 by making the longest-ever scramjet-powered flight. 2
The X-51 investigation team concentrated on assessing both inlet (forebody/inlet isolator) and engine characteristics that were not as expected from data gathered both on the ground and on first flight. During boost, the flow through the inlet started (began flowing air) at a later than expected Mach number, and higher than anticipated combustion-driven pressures were seen during the engine start sequence. Inlet/forebody geometry, fuel system delivery to combustor, and clean air combustion characteristics (vs. ground combustion vitiation effects) were all examined as possible causes for the un-start. It is likely that several separate causal factors combined to cause the un-start. An extensive fault tree was developed with appropriate tests/analyses identified to aid in fault tree node closure. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Boeing built four X-51A flight test vehicles with the program goal of reaching Mach 6 in scramjet power. Two vehicles remain. In developing new hypersonic propulsion concepts like the hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet, all test flights are deemed successful in the sense that every attempt is an opportunity to find anomalies that need to be addressed before the next flight. We agree with Mr. Charlie Brink, the Air Force Research Laboratorys X-51A program manager, who once said Every time we test this new and exciting technology we get that much closer to success.
Aerojet's TriJet Hypersonic Engine A New Idea
Aerojet unveiled a novel combined-cycle propulsion concept to achieve seamless operation from Mach 0 to 6+. Known as TriJet engine, the turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) concept is attractive for high speed ISR/Strike Platform applications, bridging the existing thrust gap between available turbojets and dual-mode ramjet/scramjets with an ejector ramjet. The TriJet enhanced TBCC propulsion system consists of a common 3D inward-turning inlet with simple variable geometry, feeding compressed inlet air to three synergistically interacting propulsion systems: an Off-the Shelf (OTS) heritage turbojet, a State-of-the-Art (SOA) ejector ramjet (ERJ), and a near SOA core-burning dual-mode ramjet (DMRJ). In contrast to classical wall burning, core-burning combustion is initiated in the combustor center and not at the combustor wall. Experiments have shown that this concept reduces the heat load to the wall by 40- to 50%. The TriJet has two exhaust nozzle systems: one nozzle for the turbine engine only assuring minimal changes to its heritage design, and one nozzle that combines the effluents of the ERJ with the DMRJ. Using a patented concept called Sustained Aero Choke (SAC), the second nozzle is used for thrust enhancement in the Mach regime 2.5 to 4.5 where the DMRJ produces little or no thrust.
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Dr. Adam Siebenhaar, Director of Hypersonic Propulsion at Aerojet, stated that the innovative Aerojet TriJet has three significant attributes exceeding competing TBCC solutions: (1) Positive thrust margins can be achieved over the entire Mach 0 to 6+ flight regime without new high risk technological innovations; (2) Sustained cruise speed capability in the Mach 3 to 4 range to extend vehicle operating range, and the associated ability to make turning maneuvers more practical; and (3) The option to configure and extensively operate a single engine demonstrator vehicle up to Mach 4 with an available Turbine Engine and a State-of-Art Ejector Ramjet. Dr. Siebenhaar further added that this robust vehicle can then be equipped with a large scale scramjet and used for envelop expansion into the higher Mach flight regime, thereby overcoming the ground test facility limitations as they exist now and the foreseeable future. TriJet Impacts
With the TriJet Aerojet has envisioned a propulsion system which delivers high thrust over the entire flight regime of an ISR/Strike mission capable platform:
The currently existing TBCC issues are eliminated by the TriJet as follows: Small Transonic Thrust Margin - Turbojet thrust is assisted with ERJ thrust. Thrust Gap to DMRJ - ERJ and SAC provide reliable thrust. DMRJ Cruise Thermal Management Margin - Core-Burning provides robust margin. No full scale ground test facilities available - Two step approach: o Build Mach 6+ Platform and at first operate w/ OTS TE and SoA ERJ up to Mach 3.5. o Install DMRJ and Use Vehicle for Envelope Expansion in Flight. Payload dispense at Mach 6 - Low dynamic pressure (Q) flight regime can be reliably achieved with the primary thrusters of the ERJ which can produce thrust independent of Q. The TriJet propulsion concept has the potential to advance high-speed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) or strike aircraft. TriJet is believed to be mature enough to initiate a program with a subscale demonstrator; it just needs a customer ready to team up with Aerojet. Flight Regime: Mach 0 to 6+ OTS Turbojet: M 0.0 to 2.5 SOA ERJ: M 0.0 to 4.5 SAC: M 3.4 to 4.5 Near SOW DMRJ: M 3.5 to 6+ Step 1: Learn How to Operate Vehicle w/ TE & ERJ
Step 2: Install DMRJ & Expand Envelope in Flight
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AFOSR/NASA National Center for Hypersonic Combined Cycle Propulsion Improving the Future of Hypersonic Flight
The National Center for Hypersonic Combined Cycle Propulsion (CHCCP) 2 , funded by AFOSR and NASA, completed its second year of research. Under the direction of Dr. James McDaniel, professor at the University of Virginia (U.Va), the objectives of the CHCCP Center are to seek an improved physical understanding and modeling capability of three combined-cycle flow regimes: turbine-to-ramjet mode transition, ramjet-to-scramjet mode transition, and hypervelocity operation. In addition to U.Va, the CHCCP is comprised of teams from industry, government, and academia, including Boeing, ATK GASL, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), North Carolina State University, the University of Pittsburgh, George Washington University, Cornell University, Stanford University, Michigan State University, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Several members of the AIAA High Speed Air Breathing Propulsion Technical Committee (HSABPTC) are also part of the CHCCP working group.
To date, researchers at the CHCCP Center have developed a dual-mode combustion wind tunnel to simulate Mach 5 flight conditions, incorporating new laser diagnostic tools such as TDLAS and PIV. Modeling of experimental data uses both RANS and LES/RANS methods. Researchers are also developing advanced FDF methods and chemical kinetic models are developed to compute hypersonic turbulent reacting flows. The following are highlights of the most recent results achieved by the different CHCCP team members. In the low-speed mode transition, the inlet mode transition (IMX) facility at NASA Glenn provided data which was modeled by Boeing, in both the supersonic mode and the back-pressured mode simulating a turbine in the flowpath. North Carolina State University developed an immersed boundary technique for simulating the flow through bleed passages in the inlet, used to control shock-boundary-layer interactions. In the high-speed mode transition, the University of Virginia developed a unique dual-mode combustion wind tunnel which simulates Mach 5 flight conditions. The tunnel is an electrically-heated clean-air facility that was designed with optical access for non-intrusive measurements. Measurements of hydrogen-air combustion were conducted at the facility at conditions in which the reaction transitions from scramjet mode to ramjet mode, increasing the fuel equivalence ratio. Modeling of the data was
2 The CHCCP is one of three NASA/AFOSR centers funded to advance research in air-breathing propulsion, materials and structures, and boundary layer control for aircraft that can travel at Mach 5 and faster. The joint investment of $30 million over five years has the objective of supporting basic science and applied research that improves our understanding of hypersonic flight.
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done by NCSU with both RANS and LES/RANS methods. Measurements were made in the tunnel by Stanford University using the Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) technique, and by UVa using Stereoscopic Particle Imaging Velocimetry (SPIV). Of particular interest is the effect of combustion on fuel-air mixing. SPIV images revealed that the streamwise vorticies generated by the ramp fuel injector, which are responsible for efficient fuel-air mixing, are weakened due to pressure rise in the base of the fuel injector. Additional laser diagnostics available for flowfield measurements are the UVa Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Tomography (TDLAT) technique and the George Washington University Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy (CARS) technique. Upcoming experiments will utilize a cavity flameholder for ethylene-air combustion. In the hypervelocity regime, utilizing the NASA HYPULSE facility, ATK/GASL constructed a model of the UVa flowpath designed for optical access. Non-intrusive methods to be used in HYPULSE include TDLAS and fuel-plume imaging (FPI). Researchers plan to obtain measurements at Mach 5 for comparison with the UVa facility, and later at Mach 7 and 10 conditions. Fundamental computational modeling being utilized by the CHCCP Center include production-level RANS techniques, state-of-the-art LES/RANS techniques, and the development of advanced filtered density function (FDF) techniques. LES/RANS, developed by NSCU, employed a blending function to transition from the LES of the flowfield to the RANS near walls. An advanced FDF technique, termed energy-pressure-velocity-scalar (EPVS), was developed by the University of Pittsburg and Michigan State University for turbulent combusting flows. The University of Buffalo utilized Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) to provide data utilized by the LES/RANS and FDF solution methodologies. UVa derived skeletal and reduced reaction models for ethylene combustion and conducted experiments on counterflow combustor extinction and ignition limits. Cornell University derived computationally-efficient implementation of ethylene combustion using rate-controlled constrained equilibrium (RCCE) and in-situ adaptive tabulation (ISAT) methodologies for incorporation in LES/RANS and advanced FDF models. NIST conducted experiments to provide detailed chemical kinetic data for hydrocarbon fuels of interest in hypersonic propulsion.
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Hypersonic Propulsion Research at CUBRC State-of-the Art Ground Testing
At CUBRCs LENS II long-duration shock tunnel, a full-scale X-51 vehicle equipped with a generic scramjet flowpath was tested at duplicated Mach 6 flight conditions. During the past year, measurements have been made of the thrust, drag and lift were conducted in the clean air environment. A unique soft suspension system was developed to free fly the X-51 model during the 80+ ms of the flow duration in the tunnel. Extensive heat transfer and pressure measurements were made through the engine and over the simulated engine seals. A combined set of measurements provided new unique code validation data for a range of fueling conditions. Fundamental studies of mixing and combustion were also conducted at CUBRC in a large-scale combustion duct with a HIFiRE-like flowpath to examine the mixing and combustion processes in a Mach 5 to 7 scramjet environment. These studies are being conducted in conjunction with detailed DES/LES computations being performed at the University of Minnesota.
The Aerothermal/Aero-optic Evaluation Center (AAEC) at CUBRC operates the LENS supersonic and hypersonic test facilities for ground testing of full-scale missiles up to 30 ft in length at fully duplicated flight conditions from Mach 3.5 to Mach 30. The LENS ground test capability consisting of the LENS I and LENS II reflected shock tunnels and the LENS X expansion tunnel, which have been constructed during the past 15 years, provide the world's most advanced facilities for high Reynolds number testing in hypervelocity flows. The LENS facilities have been used in the study of interceptors, scramjet and ramjet engine performance, dynamic booster stage and shroud separation, shuttle ascent and reentry, planetary reentry to Earth and Mars and other bodies in the solar system, jet and divert thruster interaction, plume interactions, and many other applications. 7
Air Breathing High Speed Propulsion in Japan Right On Track
The international community had a share of setbacks and triumphs. On March 11, a massive M9 class earthquake shook the north-east area of Japan, taking more than 15,000 lives and destroying buildings, cars, ships and airplanes. At the end of July, nearly 5 thousand people were still missing. Tohoku University and the Kakuda Space Center of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are located in the affected region. These two centers lead Japan's work in high-speed air-breathing propulsion research. Fortunately, no casualties were reported in both sites, and damages to the facilities were minimal. Kakuda Space Center, JAXA's hub for high-speed air-breathing propulsion R&D, did not report human losses and damage to buildings was minor, considering the magnitude of the quake. The director of the center, Mr. Keiichiro Noda, was grateful to receive a letter of sympathy from Mr. Charles Bolden, Jr., NASA Administrator. By mid-year, routine R&D activities at the Kakuda Center resumed.
Crack in the road - JAXAs Kakuda Space Center Mr. Justin Tilman, NASA Japan Representative, and Mr. Keiichiro Noda, (March, 2011) - Courtesy of Dr. Kanda. Director, Kakuda Space Center (June 28, 2011).
Japanese researchers succeeded in measuring the second mode pressure fluctuations of the boundary layer transition using a 7-degree half-angle cone model, 1100-mm long, at a high enthalpy flow condition in JAXAs High Enthalpy Shock Tunnel (HIEST) 3 . The measurement mainly focused on observation of the second mode instability in the transition process under hypersonic high-enthalpy flow with high-speed pressure transducers. Recently, Dr. Takeshi Kanda, lead researcher at JAXA and international member of the AIAA HSABPTC, proposed a prediction method for boundary layer transition using a conservation law approach 4 that covers from subsonic to hypersonic speed flow region. The increasing ratio of the boundary layer thickness to the laminar boundary layer thickness at the
3 Tanno, H., et al., AIAA Paper 2011-3889. 4 Kanda, T., Trans. JSASS, Vol. 54, No. 183, 2011, pp. 7-15. 8
transition is introduced. Several equations for laminar and turbulent boundary layers are used to predict the transition Reynolds number. The effect of the momentum deficit at the leading edge is also incorporated in this approach assuming compressible flow conditions. The calculated transition Reynolds number shows reasonable agreement with the experimental results. Under the compressible flow conditions, the calculation simulates the bucket of the transition Reynolds number with a Mach number, the change in the transition Reynolds number due to wall cooling, and the increase in the transition Reynolds number with increase in the bluntness Reynolds number. Dr. Kanda and his collaborators at JAXA plan to include this prediction method in the design and test of hypersonic propulsion technologies.
A 7 deg half-angle cone model used in the boundary layer study at HIEST(JAXA).
As we end 2011, let us reflect on the advances made but with a look at the future of high speed air breathing propulsion. Let us imagine a future where hypersonic vehicles streak through the sky at many times the speed of sound around the world, and envision spaceplanes that combine scramjets with rockets to make access to space more viable. Let us now speed into the future!
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to the following people for their contribution to this article.
Mr. Charles Brink - Air Force Research Laboratory Dr. Adam Siebenhaar - Aerojet Professor James McDaniel - University of Virginia Dr. Takeshi Kanda - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Dr. Michael Holden - CUBRC
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