Reduced order design and investigation of intakes for high speed propulsion systems

Ramjet propulsion is commonly preferred to power supersonic and hypersonic vehicles for cruising faster than Mach 3. This is an elegant solution owing to the lean architecture which does not embody any rotating parts. Although the geometry of the engine is simple as compared to turbine based configurations, the flow physics through the engine duct is quite complex and the flow speeds modulate between the supersonic and subsonic regimes multiple times. The design and performance analysis of ramjet engines are vital to ensure that propulsion system can satisfy the flight trajectory requirements. Therefore, this study introduces a reduced order holistic approach for design and assessment of the flow development in high-speed propulsion systems composed of generic elements of ramjet/scramjet engine configurations. Accordingly, the intakes designed based on axisymmetric flow templates are used to provide the necessary freestream flow modulation prior to the isolator through which a normal shock assumption is applied. The resultant flow properties are utilized for the combustion module where the flow expansion within the combustor and nozzle components are computed based on 1D steady inviscid flow equations coupled with detailed chemistry approach and JANAF tables. The module was validated and verified with the experimental and numerical data obtained for a dual-mode ramjet/scramjet combustor. Consequently, the parameters such as thrust, fuel consumption and specific impulse are calculated to quantify the engine performance for each design. Finally, the employment of the low fidelity model is demonstrated over a family of ramjet flow paths where the design space is confined based on the requirements of a high-supersonic cruise vehicle.