Posted on 05/10/2021 2:04:20 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The breakthrough was built on decades of research into a theoretical propulsion system called an oblique detonation wave engine (ODWE). The concept works by funneling a mixture of air and fuel at hypersonic speeds (more than five times the speed of sound) toward a ramp, which creates a shock wave. This shock wave rapidly heats up the fuel-air mixture and causes it to detonate, blasting exhaust gasses out from the back of the engine at high speed.
In theory, this detonation should be able to propel an aircraft at up to 17 times the speed of sound, say the researchers, which could be fast enough for spacecraft to simply fly out of the atmosphere...
By carefully balancing the proportions of the air-fuel mixture, the speed of the gas flow and the angle of the ramp, they were able to generate a detonation that remained fixed in position for around 3 seconds. That's long enough to confirm that the detonation was stabilized in a fixed position and was not travelling up or downstream, Ahmed said, which is a first, major step toward realizing a real-life ODWE.
The researchers only ran their experiment for a few seconds mainly because the intensity of the detonation rapidly erodes the glass sides of the test chamber, Ahmed explained. They had to use glass in their initial tests so that they could make optical measurements of the detonation, but if they were to replace them with metal sides they should be able to run the detonation for much longer...
The main challenge for the researchers now is working out how they can alter the three key ingredients of fuel mix, air speed and ramp angle while still maintaining the stability of the detonation.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
“The main difficulty, Ahmed said, lies in preventing the detonation from traveling upstream toward the fuel source, where it can cause serious damage...”
Huh.
Old idea...google the Orion project.
I wonder how many G’s would that put on a human.
Growing up in Africa ironically meant having access to ‘old’ science books from 60’s America and 40’s Britain. I am certain I came across something like this in those old dusty books.
Excellent question!
It’s “Footfall” without the nukes.
There are materials that could withstand the heat generated by Mach 17?
Depends on the force of the blast, which is a function of not only exhaust velocity.
The same engine will give more acceleration to an ant than to a human or to a house. I think this engine can be throttled.
Sounds like a rough, bumpy ride.
Superman's cape.
Yes. Space Shuttle re-entry was at Mach 25. On ascent, by the time it reaches Mach 17, it should be in the thinner part of the atmosphere.
The space shuttle. This is why they used the ceramic tiles and had such a hard time with the glue. The tiles worked well. The glue? Not so well.
Oops - you beat me handily.
Hmmmm. Sounds like a SCRAMjet to me
This is quite different from Orion, but I have to admit that the Orion Project came to mind immediately when I read the first couple of sentences...
Yup Bang Bang but with chemical fuels rather than Nukes.🤔
“God was a knocken and he wanted in real bad.”😁
That’s right, I forgot about that.
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