Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12

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Acta Astronautica
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Thermodynamic performance analysis of ramjet engine at wide working

conditions
crossmark
⁎ ⁎
Min Oua, Li Yana, , Jing-feng Tangb, Wei Huanga, , Xiao-qian Chenc
a
Science and Technology on Scramjet Laboratory, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, People's Republic of China
b
Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, People's Republic of China
c
College of Aerospace Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, People's Republic of China

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: Although ramjet has the advantages of high-speed flying and higher specific impulse, the performance
Ramjet engine parameters will decline seriously with the increase of flight Mach number and flight height. Therefore, the
Brayton cycle investigation on the thermodynamic performance of ramjet is very crucial for broadening the working range. In
Thermodynamic analysis the current study, a typical ramjet model has been employed to investigate the performance characteristics at
Wide working conditions
wide working conditions. First of all, the compression characteristic analysis is carried out based on the Brayton
cycle. The obtained results show that the specific cross-section area (A2 and A5) and the air-fuel ratio (f) have a
great influence on the ramjet performance indexes. Secondly, the thermodynamic calculation process of ramjet
is given from the view of the pneumatic thermal analysis. Then, the variable trends of the ramjet performance
indexes with the flow conditions, the air-fuel ratio (f), the specific cross-sectional area (A2 and A5) under the
fixed operating condition, equipotential dynamic pressure condition and variable dynamic pressure condition
have been discussed. Finally, the optimum value of the specific cross-sectional area (A5) and the air-fuel ratio (f)
of the ramjet model at a fixed work condition (Ma=3.5, H=12 km) are obtained.

1. Introduction
In addition to the traditional sense of the turbine aircraft engine,
ramjet is the other vital type of air jet engine. The most important
feature of ramjet is that there is no mechanical compressor structure in
it. Ramjet can be classified into subsonic combustion ramjet (ramjet for
short) and supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet for short), and
there are many influencing factors for the ram-to-scram mode transi-
tion [1,2]. In 2014, Huang et al. reviewed the mode transition of the
combined cycle engines from three typical mode transition processes,
namely the ejector/ramjet mode transition for the rocket-based
combined cycle engine, the turbojet/ramjet mode transition for the
turbine-based combined cycle engine and the ramjet/scramjet mode
transition for the combined cycle engines [3]. The concept of ramjet
was first proposed by the French engineer Rene Lorin in 1913.
Compared with the traditional turbine aircraft engine, the ramjet owns
the advantages of simple structure and light weight as it is constituted
just by inlet, combustor and exhaust nozzle. As the compression and
the expansion processes are generated by the variation of the cross-
section area, the ramjet is fit for flying with the Mach number being
above 3. However, due to the lake of mechanical compressor, the
ramjet cannot compress the airstream effectively under low flying
speed, and this causes the pressure too low to produce enough thrust
[4].
The operation of the ramjet engine follows the typical open Brayton
cycle, see Fig. 1. Fig. 1 demonstrates the temperature entropy (t-s)
diagram of actual ramjet thermodynamic cycle. There are four main
processes in this cycle system, namely the adiabatic compression in
inlet, the isobaric combustion (ram-mode) in combustor, the adiabatic
expansion in exhaust nozzle and the isobaric cooling outside the
engine.
The general geometry of a typical ramjet engine is demonstrated in
Fig. 2, and there is a geometric throat in the inlet. This structure is very
different from that of the scramjet engine [5]. The airstream speed in
the contraction section of the inlet is supersonic. Then, the speed
decreases to subsonic after the compression of the normal shock wave
in the expansion section of the inlet. After burns under subsonic speed
in the combustor, the flow expands to supersonic in the exhaust nozzle
and the thrust is obtained finally. The combustor of the ramjet is
usually a cylinder with constant cross-sectional area, and it is equipped
with flame-holder [6,7] and injection orifice [8–12] as well. The mixing
and combustion process encountered in the scramjet engine should be

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: scarlet@163.com (L. Yan), gladrain2001@163.com (W. Huang).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2016.11.036
Received 8 October 2016; Received in revised form 6 November 2016; Accepted 15 November 2016
Available online 01 December 2016
0094-5765/ © 2016 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Ou et al.
Fig. 1. Temperature entropy (t-s) diagram of actual ramjet thermodynamic cycle, 1-Inlet
entrance, 2- Inlet throat, 3- Combustion chamber entrance, 4- Combustion chamber exit,
5- Tail nozzle throat and 6- Tail nozzle exit.
Fig. 2. General geometry of a typical ramjet engine.
taken into consideration as well, especially for the mixing augmenta-
tion induced by the active and passive devices employed by many
scholars [13–17]. The detailed research progress on the transverse jet
in supersonic crossflows can be found in Refs. [18,19]. The jet has been
used to cool the nose cone and reduce the drag force of hypersonic
vehicles as well [20–22]. In 2015, Huang gave a detailed summary on
the drag and heat release reduction induced by a counterflowing jet and
its combinations [23]. The structure of the exhaust nozzle is the Laval
nozzle type, and it plays the role to accelerate the subsonic airstream at
the exit of the combustor to supersonic and let it out [24].
As shown in Fig. 3, although the performance of the ramjet engine
is good when the flight Mach number is in the range of 3–6, the
performance will be deteriorated significantly as the flight Mach
number continues to rise and attains hypersonic (Ma > 6) flight range.
This is because that the inlet total temperature will rise constantly
when the flight Mach number increase, and within the temperature
tolerance limit of the materials, even a small quantity of fuel's injection
and combustion can make the combustion over temperature. Besides,
excessive temperature will initiate the decomposition of combustion
products, and a considerable part of the heat release in the combustion
Fig. 3. Hypersonic engine specific fuel impulse vs. freestream Mach number [27].
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Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12
will be consumed during this process. Accordingly, a lower combustion
efficiency must be induced [25,26].
When it reaches hypersonic (Ma > 6) flight range, the scramjet is
believed to be a better choice than ramjet [28,29]. Although scramjet
can perform stably in high Mach number (Ma > 6), there are still some
limits such as narrower operating envelope [30]. The scramjet cannot
start on its own, and it can only operate efficiently when it is boosted to
a certain speed [31]. If the flight Mach number of ramjet engine can be
extended to 5–6, the inheritance and innovation of the ramjet can be
realized by design. Therefore, the thermodynamic performance study
of ramjet engine at wide working conditions is of great significance in
the development of the hypersonic flight vehicle [32], and it is a very
useful approach for the conceptual design of the ramjet engine.
A few decades after the concept of the ramjet was put forward, the
United States, France, Germany, Britain, the Soviet union and other
countries carry out a good deal of engineering application research on
it. The first ramjet ground ignition test was accomplished by a French
engineer named Rene • Leduc in 1935 [33], and it testifies the
feasibility of using a ramjet as the propelling machinery. In the late
1940s, after the study of programs like the "bumblebee" of the United
States and the "Leduc - 010" of France, the flight test of the ramjet was
achieved.
The ramjet began to be applied in engineering in1950s. The typical
examples are the ramjets employed in the Bomarc-B type surface-to-air
missiles (CIM-10) and Brass knight ship-to-air missile (RIM-8) of the
United States, the police dog surface-to-air missile of the British and
the Sam 4 surface-to-air missile of the Soviet Union. In this period, the
main technologies used in the ramjet are central cone diffuser, bluff
body flame-holder, air film refrigeration and so on. The flight Mach
number reached to 2–3. In the 1960s, the scramjet has been applied on
the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and a typical representative is the
D-21 drones in the United States equipped with RJ-43-MA-11 ramjet
which has the flight Mach number of 3.2 and the flight height of 24 km
[34–36].
In the current study, the thermodynamic performance of a typical
ramjet model at wide working conditions has been investigated
theoretically on the basis of the Brayton cycle, and the influences of
the specific cross-sectional area and the air-fuel ratio have been taken
into consideration. The physical model and analysis approaches have
been briefly introduced in Section 2, and Section 3 has presented the
results obtained by the theoretical approach. Some conclusions have
been provided in the last section.
2. Physical model and analysis approaches
In the current study, the core issue is the thermodynamic perfor-
mance analysis of ramjet at wide working conditions. Therefore, this
study is carried out based on a ramjet engine.
As to subsonic combustor, a typical ramjet engine is employed to
simulate the whole process, see Fig. 4, and Fig. 4 shows the simplified
ramjet engine geometry for analysis. The letter in this figure represents
the flow path region, namely A1 is the entry of the inlet, A2 is the throat
of the inlet, A3 is the entry of the combustor, A4 is the entry of the
nozzle, A5 is the throat of the nozzle and A6 is the nozzle exit. The
compression process is complete in an inverted De Laval nozzle. The
hypersonic freestream is decelerated to subsonic after the compression
of geometry and the shock wave. Then, the compressed air and fuel are
Fig. 4. Simplified geometry of a typical ramjet engine.
M. Ou et al. Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12

mixed and burned, and a mass of energy is produced to increase the Table 2
temperature and speed of the flow. At last, the air at high temperature Results for the geometric model employed in the current study.
expands in the nozzle, and the thrust is produced [37].
Performance index Value Performance index Value
In the traditional thermodynamic analysis on turbojet and ramjet,
the engines are usually considered as Brayton cycles, in which the Specific thrust (m/s) 728.9 Specific impulse (s) 1638.4
combustion is supposed to be a constant static pressure Thermal efficiency 0.4279 Propulsive efficiency 0.8823
Overall efficiency 0.3775 Inlet entropy production 79.9
heating process. The assumption of Brayton cycle is representative,
(J/K)
and it has been widely used in thermodynamic analysis on ramjet for Combustor entropy 1296.3 Nozzle entropy production 69.8
simplicity [38–40]. The wall of the combustor is also assumed to production (J/K) (J/K)
be adiabatic and frictionless. Under conditions with high free- Circulation work (J) 948794.45 Specific fuel consumption 0.224
stream Mach numbers, the irreversible loss produced by shock (kg/(N∙ h))

waves and wall friction cannot be neglected. Therefore, the

flow in the inlet is supposed to be an entropy-adding process.
For brevity, the expansion in the nozzle is supposed to be an
isentropic process.
The most specific characteristic of ramjet is that the air stream at
the nozzle throat flows with a Mach number being 1.0 (Ma5=1.0).
Besides, there is a normal shock wave in the expanding period after the
inlet throat. The position of the normal shock wave is uncertain. Thus,
the thermodynamic calculation should be carried out from the exit of
nozzle and the entrance of inlet respectively. Firstly, the temperature
and the pressure of the freestream with the input inlet conditions
(flight Mach number/ flight height) should be computed. Secondly, the
pressure and the temperature of the airflow before the normal shock
wave should be figured out according to the relationship among the
cross-sectional areas. With the assumption of complete expansion in
nozzle, the Mach number at the nozzle throat is 1.0. Therefore, the
pressure at the exit of the nozzle is the atmospheric pressure. Then, the
pressure and temperature at different cross-sectional areas can be
worked out according to the relationship among the cross-sectional
areas. Isobaric combustion can also be incarnated in this process [41–
43].
In order to conform to the actual situation, the geometric model Fig. 5. Non-dimensional temperature - entropy curve of ramjet engine.
employed in the study has the relative cross-sectional areas as follows,
see Table 1. 3. Results and discussion
When the input value is Ma0=3.5 and H =12 km, the results of the
program is as follows, see Table 2. 3.1. Compression characteristic analysis
The obtained result shows that for the work condition of Ma0=3.5
and H =12 km, this ramjet can produce positive thrust, and the entropy The basic thermodynamic cycle of ramjet is Brayton cycle. The
production in the combustor is the main part of the entropy production pressure and temperature ratios have the decisive effect on the
in the engine. This conclusion agrees with David Riggins's point of performance of a ramjet. Additionally, the principal performance
view. However, the overall efficiency and thermal efficiency are lower indexes of the ramjet are specific thrust (Fs) and specific impulse
than expectation, and this indicates that for this ramjet, this work (Isp), and the specific thrust is the ratio of the internal thrust to the air
condition is not the optimum condition [44,45]. mass flow rate at the entrance. Additionally, the specific impulse is the
Fig. 5 shows the non-dimensional temperature - entropy curve of ratio of the internal thrust to the fuel weight flow rate. The mathema-
ramjet engine. tical expression of the specific thrust can be derived based on the
The thermodynamic cycle diagram in this work condition accords analysis on the thermal circulation.
with the theoretical analysis. In Fig. 5, the green line represents the
Fsp= 2L id + v02 −v0 (1)
adiabatic compression process in the contraction section of the inlet,
and the yellow line represents the adiabatic compression process of the
⎛ k −1 ⎞ ⎛ τ ⎞
normal shock in the expansion section of the inlet. The isobaric Lop=cp T0 ⎜π k −1⎟ ⎜⎜ k −1 −1⎟⎟
combustion process in the combustor, the adiabatic expansion process ⎝ ⎠⎝ π k ⎠ (2)
in the nozzle and the isobaric exothermic process are represented by
Eq. (2) shows that when the inlet pressure ratio of the ramjet
the red, pink and blue lines respectively. The temperature-entropy (T-
increases, the variation of the circulation work is not linear, and it
s) diagram shows that the entropy production in the isobaric combus-
decreases after its peak value is achieved, see Fig. 6.
tion process of the combustor is the main part of the total entropy in
Then, the optimum pressure ratio can be achieved from the
the whole process.
derivation of Eq.(2).
k
πop=τ 2(k −1) (3)

Table 1 Herein, πop is the optimum pressure ratio.

Relative cross-sectional area for the geometric model employed in the current study. Because of π=pt3/p0，τ=Tt4/T0, Eq.(3) becomes as follows.
k
Characteristic section A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 ⎛ p ⎞ ⎛ Tt 4 ⎞ 2(k −1)
⎜ t 3 ⎟ =⎜ ⎟
Relative area 1.3 0.5 0.99 0.99 0.8 2.8 ⎝ p0 ⎠op ⎝ T0 ⎠ (4)

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M. Ou et al. Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12

pt 3
f3 (Ma, f )=
pt 2 (8)

f1(Ma) is only related to the features of the incoming flow. f2(Ma,β) is

the pressure ratio of the external compression section of the inlet, and
it varies with the inflow condition and the angle of oblique shock wave.
f3(Ma,f) is the pressure ratio of the internal compression section of the
inlet, and it is mainly influenced by the inflow condition and the
normal shock wave. At the same time, the position and compression
Fig. 6. Pressure ratio – circulation work diagram of ramjet. quality of the normal shock wave are affected by the combustion state
in combustor.
The pressure ratio can be divided into three parts, namely f1(Ma), A model of the ramjet mentioned before is built by the software
f2(Ma,β) and f3(Ma,f), see Eqs.(6–8) respectively. MATLAB, and the variation of the pressure ratio functions with the
specific cross-section area (A2 and A5) and the air-fuel ratio (f) under
pt 3 pt 0 pt 2 pt 3
πop=f (τ )= = ∙ ∙ =f (Ma ) ∙f2 (Ma, δ ) ∙f3 (Ma, f ) fixed work condition (Ma0=3.5, H=12 km) can be obtained. In this
p0 p0 pt 0 pt 2 1 (5) paper, the air-fuel ratio is the ratio of the fuel mass flow rate to the air
k mass flow rate at the entrance.
pt 0 ⎛ k −1 ⎞ k −1
f1 (Ma )= =⎜1+ Ma 02⎟
p0 ⎝ 2 ⎠ (6) (1) Compression characteristic with different air-fuel ratios

k
⎡ (k +1) Ma02sin2 β ⎤ k −1 Firstly, the variation curves of f1(Ma), f2(Ma,β), f3(Ma,f) and
⎢ 2 + (k −1) Ma 2sin2 β ⎥ overall pressure ratio(π) with different air fuel ratios (f) have been
p ⎣ 0 ⎦
f2 (Ma, δ )= t 2 =σ1= 1 provided. f1 presents the external pressure ratio, f2 presents the
pt 0 ⎛ 2k k −1 ⎞ k −1 pressure ratio of the contraction section of the inlet, and f3 presents
⎜ k +1 Ma 02sin2 β − ⎟
⎝ k +1 ⎠
(7) the pressure ratio of the divergent section of the inlet.

Fig. 7. Parametric variation trends with different air-fuel ratios, (a) f1 vs. f, (b) f2 vs. f, (c) f3 vs. f and (d) π vs. f.

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Fig. 8. Parametric variation trends with different inlet throat areas, (a) f1 vs. A2, (b) f2 vs. A2, (c) f3 vs. A2 and (d) π vs. A2.
The compression characteristic of the ramjet with different air-fuel
ratios are shown in Fig. 7. For the ramjet, f1 and f2 maintain the same
value when the air-fuel ratio (f) increases, while f3 and π increase with
the increase of the air-fuel ratio (f). These results agree with the
analysis on the inlet pressure ratio mentioned above. Higher air-fuel
ratio (f) means that more power is injected into the combustor, and the
stagnation pressure at the inlet of the combustor is higher. Thus, f3 and
π increase. It is also observed that when the range of the air-fuel ratio is
0.02–0.07, the compression characteristic of this ramjet will be
improved.
(2) Compression characteristic with different inlet throat areas
The relationship diagrams between the inlet throat area (A2) and
f1(Ma), f2(Ma,β), f3(Ma,f) and overall pressure ratio(π) are given as
follows.
In Fig. 8, it is shown that the variation of the inlet throat area (A2)
has no influence on the compression characteristics. That is because
that the computing method used in this part is based on the flow
conservation. Therefore, we can suppose that the performance para-
meters will not change with the inlet throat area (A2).
(3) Compression on characteristic with different nozzle throat areas
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Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12
The relationship diagrams between the nozzle throat area (A5) and
f1(Ma), f2(Ma,β), f3(Ma,f) and overall pressure ratio (π) are given as
follows.
In Fig. 9, it can be seen that f1 and f2 have no difference with the
variation of A5. While f3 and π decrease visibly with the increase of A5.
That is because that the quantity of airstream flowing through the
exhaust nozzle will grow with the increase of A5. Then, the choking
phenomena will be weakened, and the pressure in the combustor will
be declined. Thus, the pressure ratio decreases.
3.2. Pneumatic thermal performance analysis
Along with the variation of flow conditions, the performance
characteristics will go through a great change. On the basis of the
compression characteristic analysis and the previous studies, it can be
confirmed that the primary influencing factors on the performance
indexes for ramjet are the specific cross-sectional area (A2 and A5) and
the air-fuel ratio (f).
3.2.1. Performance characteristics of ramjet under variable flow
conditions
Applying the ramjet model mentioned before, the relationship
between the flow condition and the performance characteristics are
shown in Figs. 10 and 11.
M. Ou et al. Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12

Fig. 9. Parametric variation trends with different nozzle throat areas, (a) f1 vs. A5, (b) f2 vs. A5, (c) f3 vs. A5 and (d) π vs. A5.

Fig. 10. Performance variations with different flight Mach numbers, (a) Fs vs. Ma0 and (b) Isp vs. Ma0.

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M. Ou et al.
Fig. 11. Performance variations with different flight heights, (a) Fs vs. H and (b) Isp vs. H.
Fig. 12. Performance variations with different air-fuel ratios, (a) Fs vs. f and (b) Isp vs. f.
(1) Performance characteristics with different flight Mach numbers
With the continuous increase of Ma0, the specific thrust and the
specific impulse are all present a declining curve. This variable rule
conforms to the general recognition. For this given geometric structure
ramjet, the increase of Ma0 will cause the decrease of the inlet
compression efficiency, and this would induce the performance reduc-
tion of the whole engine. Furthermore, after Ma0 increases to a certain
value, the inlet of the ramjet will face the problem of inefficient
operation. Besides, the loss generated during the working process will
keep rising with the enlargement of Ma0. This would result in a decline
in the power capability of the flow and a damping in the specific thrust.
According to the computational formula of specific impulse, the specific
impulse shows a trend of attenuation as well.
(2) Performance characteristics with different flight heights
A special variable curve can be seen in Fig. 11. For this given
geometric structure ramjet, the addition of the flight height has little
influence on the specific thrust and the specific impulse when the
height is under 20 km. However, when the flying height is higher than
20 km, the specific thrust and the specific impulse will decrease
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Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12
significantly with the increase of altitude. This phenomenon shows
that the flying height will have a great influence on performance
indexes only when the height is above a certain value.
3.2.2. Pneumatic thermal performance characteristics of ramjet
under different flight Mach numbers
(1) Ram-mode with different air-fuel ratios
Applying the ram-mode model mentioned above, the specific thrust
and the specific impulse of a ramjet can be calculated at conditions with
different air-fuel ratios (f). The influence of the air-fuel ratio (f) on the
ramjet performance under the fixed inlet condition (Ma0=3.5,
H=12 km) can be obtained through the MATLAB program.
The results of the specific thrust and the specific impulse with
different air-fuel ratios are shown in Fig. 12. With the continuous
increase of the air-fuel ratio (f), there is an increasing trend of the
specific thrust of the ramjet, while the specific impulse increases in the
earlier stage and then slightly decreases. The explanation for this
phenomenon is that the augmentation of the air-fuel ratio (f) means
injecting more fuel oil into the combustor. Absolutely, the specific
thrust of the ramjet will increase. When the air-fuel ratio (f) is low, the
M. Ou et al. Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12

Fig. 13. Specific thrust variation with different flight Mach numbers for different cross-section areas, (a) A1, (b) A2, (c) A5 and (d) A6.

Fig. 14. Performance variations with different fuel air ratios for different flight Mach numbers, (a) Fs vs. f and (b) Isp vs. f.

specific thrust is less than the drag force during the work process of the the increase trend of the specific thrust is greater than that of the air-
ramjet. Thus, the value of the specific impulse is low as well. The fuel ratio (f), the specific impulse will increase, and the trend of the
formula of the specific impulse is Isp=Fs/9.81/f. It indicates that when augmentation will slow down. When the increasing rate of the specific

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Fig. 15. Specific thrust variation with different flight Mach numbers for different inlet and nozzle throat areas, (a) A2 and (b) A5.

Fig. 16. Performance variations with different dynamic pressures, (a) Fs vs. q and (b) Isp vs. q.

Fig. 17. Performance variations with different dynamic pressures for different flight Mach numbers, (a) Fs vs. q and (b) Isp vs. q.

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Table 3 tendency. When the freestream Mach number is low, the specific
Critical dynamic pressure for different flight Mach numbers. impulse (Isp) goes up at the early stage but goes down later. However,
for higher freestream Mach number, the specific impulse (Isp) will
Ma0 Critical dynamic Optimal specific Optimal specific
pressure (kPa) thrust (N) impulse (m/s) increase with the augmentation of the air-fuel ratio. This result accords
with the analysis of pneumatic thermal performance characteristics
3 40 569.47 1280.01 under different flight Mach numbers.
4 60 520.51 1169.95
5 100 474.21 1065.89
6 140 407.20 915.27 (2) Ram-mode with different inlet and nozzle throat areas

The influence of the specific cross-section area on the performance

thrust is inferior to that of the air-fuel ratio (f), the specific impulse will parameter of the ramjet can be recognized in Fig. 15. The variable
decrease gradually. tendency is in the same way with different flight Mach number
conditions, namely A2 has no effect on the performance parameter,
(2) Ram-mode with different cross-section areas and the specific thrust declines with the increase of A5.

According to the analysis mentioned before, the variation of the

specific cross-sectional area has a great impact on the pressure ratio of
the ramjet. Thus, the performance parameters will have a significant
change as well. Repeating the previous work with different assumptions
of specific cross-sectional area (A1, A2, A5 and A6), the specific thrust of
a ramjet under different specific cross-sectional areas is shown in
Fig. 13.
Fig. 13 shows the influence of the cross-sectional area on the
performance characteristics. When the inlet entrance sectional area
(A1) and the nozzle exit sectional area (A6) increase, the specific thrust
will grow with them. However, the influences of A1 and A6 are generally
not considered as it is difficult to realize. The specific thrust is on a
declining trend with the increase of the exhaust nozzle throat area (A5).
That is because that the quantity of airstream flowing through the
exhaust nozzle will grow with the increase of A5. Then, the choking
phenomena will be weakened, and thus the performance characteristics
will be declined. It is noteworthy that the variation of the inlet throat
area (A2) has no influence on the performance characteristics. That is
because that the computing method used in this part is on the basis of
flow conservation.
3.2.3. Pneumatic thermal performance characteristics of ramjet with
the same dynamic pressure
(1) Ram-mode with different air-fuel ratios
Fig. 14 shows the variation trend of specific thrust and specific
impulse with the variation of air-fuel ratio (f). Under the equivalent
dynamic pressure condition, the specific thrust (Fs) has an ascending
3.2.4. Pneumatic thermal performance characteristics of ramjet
under different dynamic pressures
In fact, the selection of flight envelope of a ramjet in actual work is
the selection of flight dynamic pressure (q). To investigate the best
flight envelope of the ramjet, a MATLAB program is utilized to observe
the influence of flight dynamic pressure on performance parameters.
The current study is carried out with the ramjet model mentioned
before. The results come out like Fig. 16.
As shown in Fig. 16, the specific thrust and the specific impulse
grow with the increase of flight dynamic pressure when the flight
dynamic pressure is lower than 60KPa. While the specific thrust and
the specific impulse will not change with the augmentation of flight
dynamic pressure when it is over 60KPa (the flight Mach number is set
to be 4.0). A supposition can be proposed according to this phenom-
enon. It is necessary to maintain the flight dynamic pressure in a
certain range for an excellent performance of a fixed configuration
ramjet.
In order to investigate the scope of the flight dynamic pressure
making ramjet work in stability at different flight Mach numbers,
further research is carried out based on the research of how flight
dynamic pressure influence the performance indexes at a single flight
Mach number. The results come out like Fig. 17.
Table 3 depicts the critical dynamic pressure when the performance
indexes are in the optimal state at different flight Mach numbers.
From Fig. 17 and Table 3, it can be seen that the value of the critical
dynamic pressure increases with the augmentation of the flight Mach
number. At the condition of Ma0=3, the critical dynamic pressure is
only 40KPa. However, when Ma0 grows to 6, the critical dynamic
pressure is 140KPa. Thus, the conclusion can be put forward that the

Fig. 18. Performance variation with different air-fuel ratios and nozzle throat areas, (a) Specific thrust and (b) Specific impulse.

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M. Ou et al.
flight dynamic pressure for ramjet to work stably in wide work
conditions is unequal. For low flight Mach number, the flight envelope
with diminutive dynamic pressure can meet requirements. However,
for high flight Mach number, it is better to choose high dynamic
pressure for an optimal performance. This conclusion is consistent with
the supposition mentioned before.
3.3. Approach of indexes selection
According to the analysis about the thermal performance charac-
teristics of ramjet, it can get to know the influence the air-fuel ratio and
the specific cross-sectional area on the performance indexes.
Considering the practical feasibility, the main factors affecting its
performance output are finally determined to be the air-fuel ratio (f)
and the area of nozzle throat (A5).
To investigate the best configuration characteristics and fuel
injection scheme of ramjet at a fixed work condition. Changing the
air-fuel ratio (f) and the nozzle throat area (A5) at the same time in a
MATLAB program, and the variation trends of the specific thrust and
the specific impulse can be observed. The results come out like Fig. 18.
Fig. 18 shows the specific thrust and specific impulse variations with
different air-fuel ratios and nozzle throat areas.
On account of the results shown in Fig. 18, there are two points
meet the requirement of the specific thrust when it is 600N. The
parameters of point A are f=0.042, A5=0.9, Fs=653.2184 and
Isp=1585.4, While the parameters of point B are f=0.038, A5=0.8,
Fs=612.6161 and Isp=1643.4. As the specific impulse of point B
(Isp=1643.4) is superior to that of point A (Isp=1585.4), the para-
meters of point B are the better choice for the ramjet on the
consideration of economy even though the specific thrust of point A
(Fs=653.2184) is larger than that of point B (Fs=612.6161). The
corresponding air-fuel ratio (f) is 0.038, and the nozzle throat area
(A5) is 0.8. This is the best configuration characteristics and fuel
injection scheme of a ramjet at this work condition. Additionally, the
best configuration characteristics and fuel injection scheme of a ramjet
at different work conditions can be obtained through changing the inlet
flow conditions and repeating the work discussed above.
4. Conclusions
The ramjet is set as the research object in this article. In the current
study, the thermodynamic performance analysis of a ramjet at wide
working conditions was carried out based on the Bryton cycle. We have
come to the following conclusion:
1. The pressure ratio and the temperature ratio have the decisive effect
on the performance of a ramjet, and the entropy production in the
isobaric combustion process of the combustor is the main part of the
total entropy in the whole process.
2. When the inlet pressure ratio of the ramjet increases, the variation of
the specific thrust is not linear but has a decline after an increasing
process. The inflow conditions, the angle of the oblique shock wave
and the normal shock wave have a great impact on its variable trend.
3. One of the main factors affect the performance output of ramjet is
finally determined to be the air-fuel ratio (f). With the continuous
increase of the air-fuel ratio (f), there is an increasing trend of the
specific thrust of the ramjet. The specific impulse (Isp) increases in
the earlier stage and then slightly decreases under low flight Mach
number, but for higher freestream Mach number, the specific
impulse (Isp) will increase with the augmentation of the air-fuel
ratio.
4. The other main factor affects the performance output of ramjet is
finally determined to be the area of nozzle throat (A5). The specific
thrust is on a declining trend with the increase of the exhaust nozzle
throat area (A5). The variation of the inlet throat area (A2) has no
influence on the performance characteristics.
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Acta Astronautica 132 (2017) 1–12
5. For low flight Mach number, the flight envelope with diminutive
dynamic pressure can meet requirements. However, for high flight
Mach number, it is better to choose high dynamic pressure for an
optimal performance.
6. When the requirement of the specific thrust is 600 N, the corre-
sponding best air-fuel ratio (f) is 0.038, and the nozzle throat area
(A5) is 0.8. This is the best configuration characteristics and fuel
injection scheme of this ramjet under the work condition with the
flight Mach number and flight height being 3.5 and 12 km respec-
tively.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare there is no conflict of interest regarding the
publication of this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their thanks for the support from
the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.11502291) and
a fund for owner of Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation from the
Ministry of Education of China (No.201460).
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