On the development of a Mach 10 scramjet engine for investigation of supersonic combustion regimes

On the development of a Mach 10 scramjet engine for investigation of supersonic combustion regimes

Supersonic turbulent combustion presents many challenges and the regimes present in realistic scramjet combustors are not completely known. To experimentally investigate the combustion process in a scramjet engine, it is desirable that the flow be as representative as possible of a complete engine. In directconnect experiments, the flow is usually too uniform, motivated by the desire to keep the flow as simple as possible. However, the non-uniformities in the internal flow path of scramjet engines have been observed in simulations to drive a large variation in turbulent combustion regimes along the combustor. These considerations set constraints on the development of a flow-path for experimental investigation of scramjet combustion: it should be simple enough to allow detailed analysis and optical flow diagnostics, but also representative of the complex flow in realistic scramjets. This paper presents the development of one such flow-path for a Mach 10 free-stream condition. With the use of CFD analysis employed at the design stage of the experiment, a simplified two-dimensional scramjet engine has been developed, complete with fore-body. Simulations were used to evaluate fuelling conditions, the development of the combustion process and effects from side-walls and corner vortices. Through iterations on the engine design, a model is created that is more reliable and whose behaviour can be better anticipated.

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