Continuous Detonation Rocket and Air Breathing Engines

In the proposed second phase of this project, HyPerComp will team with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and Purdue University in the systematic design, fabrication and testing of a continuous detonation rocket engine (CDRE). During phase-I we studied the operation of the CDRE under ideal conditions, and developed an improved understanding of the non-ideal aspects of its performance. CFD models were setup for fuel/oxidizer injection, mixing and the propagation of detonation waves in 2-D and 3-D geometries. Sub-models for flow re-establishment in injectors were developed. A preliminary engine model was tested at UTA to better understand ignition and the generation of CJ-waves. The principal goal of phase-II research will be to create a working CDRE model with favorable and predictable correlations with CFD and analysis. Engine models will be fabricated at PWR and tested at Purdue. Alternate CDRE designs developed at PWR and UTA will be tested during the early part of phase-II. UTA will also test a linear array of injectors in a detonation tube, to better understand transient effects in CDRE combustion and the coupling modes between injectors.