Numerical simulations of the performance of scramjet engine model with pylon set located in the Inlet

Abstract

This work is devoted to numerical simulations of the flow in the scramjet engine model with hydrogen/air mixture combustion. The sub-scale model consists of the inlet with pylons, fuel injectors located on pylons, mixing region, combustion chamber, and nozzle. The goal of this work is to obtain efficient and stable combustion in the combustion chamber and thrust using this design, and to compare it with other existing scramjet engine models. A pylon set is proposed for installation in the rectangular inlet to decrease drag of the inlet and to create several air/fuel mixing layers to increase mixing efficiency. A movable cylindrical rod was placed in the combustor to initiate shock-induced combustion. Numerical simulations were conducted using the NASA CFD code VULCAN and performance of this scramjet engine model was computed. These simulations showed that efficient combustion and resulting thrust addition in the case of this design significantly exceeds the drag introduced by the obstacle in the combustor. As a result, in the relatively short combustor, we obtained the combustion efficiency, and a relatively high value of the engine model specific impulse. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.