Research Summaries

Back Development of a Solid Propellant-Fueled RDE (Solid RDE)

Fiscal Year 2019
Division Graduate School of Engineering & Applied Science
Department Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Investigator(s) Brophy, Christopher M.
Sponsor Air Force Research Laboratory (Air Force)
Summary RDE combustor technology is a volumetrically compact combustor which has higher power densities and thermal efficiencies than traditional combustors. These geometries deliver the reactants into the combustor axially, while the detonation wave travels around the annulus circumferentially consuming them. RDEs employ detonative combustion which results in pressure gain across the combustor increasing the system's thermal efficiency and specific thrust for the same inlet conditions and reactants. The pressure rise during the heat release also results in a system that can achieve net work/thrust without pre-compression which enables lower Mach operation compared to traditional ramjets. Detonation fuel consumption rates are approximately 1000x faster than deflagration combustion enabling ultra-compact combustors. The improved combustor size, efficiency, and thrust density allows for a RDE based ramjet and rocket to be more efficient and have a wider operational envelope as compared to their standard counterparts. These benefits could enable the reduction in total propellants without degradation in system performance.
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Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal