Equation
Lieutenant General
Like Assassin Mace once pointed out that political system has nothing to do with innovation, but rather more so on necessity.
Ramjet engine tested by the Chinese
- Thread starter SinoSoldier
- Start date
Like Assassin Mace once pointed out that political system has nothing to do with innovation, but rather more so on necessity.
I'd say both, maybe the racial part is not visible in SD. But in other cyber space, racial bias is very common, I say this from my own experience in reading other forums related to economy, science and technology etc. Remember the general attitude towards Japan from west in the 1970 and 1980s? Japan has the same political system as the west, but it got the same image "copy, non-innovative" projected on it by many westerners.
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Has there been a scramjet or ramjet vehicle that landed safely? I thought these tests were one shot deals always ending in its destruction. If this scramjet landed safely, that's significant in itself. Was it manned or done remotely? Both significant. The comparison to the X-51A makes it confusing because the US fires those over the Pacific and basically crashes into the sea.
SinoSoldier
Colonel
I was under the impression that ramjet engines require very high rates of air intake, and hence cannot be efficiently used in vehicles moving slower than 600 km/hr. That's why ramjet-powered vehicles usually have a booster to get them up to speed first.
SamuraiBlue
Captain
To land you have to turn off the scram jets and pilot it with no propulsion (AKA glider) unless it has an axillary turbo fan that can be turned on when they go down below Mach 1.
SinoSoldier
Colonel
Yes, it makes sense to have an auxiliary engine if the vehicle was designed to be reusable. Seems to be a likely configuration for future reusable spacecraft once ramjet engines are more commonplace within the aerospace realm.
SamuraiBlue
Captain
Of course it has it's own technical setbacks mainly how they are going to avoid drag when the scram jet is initiated and the fans are turned off.
Do you place a lid?
Where is it going to be placed?
Will it interfere with air flow to the scram jet?
Things like that.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
This would suggest that Chinese hypersonic vehicle research might actually be ahead of US efforts.
You only start thinking about 'niceties' like recovery, when you have a high confidence of not only achieving the desired speeds, but also doing so in a controllable way and with a meaningful enough payload to allow for dead weight like landing gears.
The first step is a data collection exercise, where you flew the thing as fast as you could to the point where flight stopped being controllable, and it breaks up from friction and stresses.
You examine all the data collected to see what caused the plane to loose control and look to see how might could mitigate or counter those problems so you maintain control at higher speeds.
Then you test that out, and only once those theories and solutions have been successfully validated do you move onto recovery, when you are looking to do lots of flight testing to effectively test and expand the flight envelope, until you reach the limits of your design, at which point you go back to the drawing board.
From the information given in that article, I would say that China has a fairly high degree of confidence with M4.5 vehicles, and are looking to push the envelope to M7-10 as their next main goal.
I think the big question now is whether that M7-10 goal is medium or long term.
If its a medium (5-10 years) term objective, then China may well hold off until they have mastered M7-10 before starting to apply the technology to manned or unmanned operational aircraft.
If they do not expect to master M7-10 for the next 10+ years, they may well mark that as next gen R&D and proceed to operational aircraft concepts around the M4-6 region for future bomber and 6th gen fighter conceptual designs.
Irrespective of where they are with the research, I would expect active projects to develop M4-5 missiles to progress at speed.
Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
Excellent write up on hybrid(combined cycle) powered space flight by J Lin
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is beginning advanced research of such a spaceplane, which would be a high tech, more efficient successor to the retired Space Shuttle, with hybrid combined cycle engines that can takeoff from an airport's landing strip and fly straight into orbit. The hybrid space plane's combined cycle engines would use turbofan or turbojet engines to takeoff horizontally from a landing strip. Once airborne, the engine then shifts to ramjet propulsion and, as speed increases, it adjusts into a scramjet engine with supersonic airflow. At the scramjet stage, the hybrid spaceplane would enter hypersonic flight in 'near space', the part of the atmosphere between 20km to 100km above sea level. Finally, the hybrid spaceplane would use its rocket motors to push out of nearspace and into orbit. Broadcasts by both state television broadcaster CCTV, and its English service, note that the CASTC spaceplane's easy reusability would exponentially bring down space launch costs.
Skylon
While the Skylon and the Chinese hypersonic space plane are both powered by combined cycle air breathing engines and rocket motors, the British Skylon uses pre cooled jet engines built by Reaction Engines Limited to achieve hypersonic atmospheric flight, as opposed to scramjets. Both spacecraft will probably first fly around the mid 2020s.
CCTV 13
Hybrid Propulsion
While this CCTV-13 clip of the hybrid spacecraft appears instead to show a conventional space rocket, China plans to have a combined cycle engine and rocket motor prototype ready for testing by 2021.
Zhang Yong, a CASTC engineer, claimed that China will master the spaceplane's technologies in the next three to five years, and a full scale spaceplane would then enter service by 2030. Interestingly, another CASTC engineer, Yang Yang, mentioned that the spaceplane would improve "ease of access to space for untrained persons" as the space plane would have more gradual acceleration than a space launch rocket (reducing the physical strain on astronauts during takeoff), suggesting a vision of a large, manned version of the spaceplane which could be used for space tourism.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is beginning advanced research of such a spaceplane, which would be a high tech, more efficient successor to the retired Space Shuttle, with hybrid combined cycle engines that can takeoff from an airport's landing strip and fly straight into orbit. The hybrid space plane's combined cycle engines would use turbofan or turbojet engines to takeoff horizontally from a landing strip. Once airborne, the engine then shifts to ramjet propulsion and, as speed increases, it adjusts into a scramjet engine with supersonic airflow. At the scramjet stage, the hybrid spaceplane would enter hypersonic flight in 'near space', the part of the atmosphere between 20km to 100km above sea level. Finally, the hybrid spaceplane would use its rocket motors to push out of nearspace and into orbit. Broadcasts by both state television broadcaster CCTV, and its English service, note that the CASTC spaceplane's easy reusability would exponentially bring down space launch costs.
Skylon
While the Skylon and the Chinese hypersonic space plane are both powered by combined cycle air breathing engines and rocket motors, the British Skylon uses pre cooled jet engines built by Reaction Engines Limited to achieve hypersonic atmospheric flight, as opposed to scramjets. Both spacecraft will probably first fly around the mid 2020s.
CCTV 13
Hybrid Propulsion
While this CCTV-13 clip of the hybrid spacecraft appears instead to show a conventional space rocket, China plans to have a combined cycle engine and rocket motor prototype ready for testing by 2021.
Zhang Yong, a CASTC engineer, claimed that China will master the spaceplane's technologies in the next three to five years, and a full scale spaceplane would then enter service by 2030. Interestingly, another CASTC engineer, Yang Yang, mentioned that the spaceplane would improve "ease of access to space for untrained persons" as the space plane would have more gradual acceleration than a space launch rocket (reducing the physical strain on astronauts during takeoff), suggesting a vision of a large, manned version of the spaceplane which could be used for space tourism.
Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
From Henri K The research and development phase of Hypersonic jet is coming to and end after 10 yrs and 1.8 Billion dollar
It has advance greatly the fundamental science of Hypersonic flight and control and create a rich body of patent, material,aerodynamic,propulsion, technical demonstrator
After nearly 10 years of development, , which has the objective of addressing the fundamental scientific issues around the " hypersonic vehicles manoeuvrable long range, moving between 30 and 70 km altitude ".
Laser scattering of burning nanoparticles Scramjet (Source: NSFC)
Started in April 2007, this program has already financed a total of 173 subjects, 26 of them qualified major and 5 strategic, with a total budget of 190 million Yuan.
These projects aim to achieve concrete results in aerodynamics, advanced propulsion, structure and ultra-light materials, prediction of the thermal environment and its protection, as well as the intelligent and autonomous control of hypersonic gear.
Researchers from some thirty different teams have published more than 2,200 theses listed in SCI and EI, filed 270 patents, and presented some of the results of their research 150 times before their international colleagues.
Please note that we regularly find some of the names associated with them weapons Chinese hypersonic projects, such as the craft Boost-Glide DF-ZF , or the Sramjet propelled vehicles, which have gradually emerged from Of 2012.
The NSFC communiqué indicates that the program has achieved significant and innovative results in the following areas:
Synopsis of NSFC's "空间 飞行器 飞行器 飞行器 的 基础 问题 programme" program (Source: East Pendulum)
The interest of this fundamental research program lies in the fact that it has made it possible to train some thirty teams of young researchers in the field of Near Space and in hypersonics. These researchers, both academic and industrial, have built a solid scientific framework to support concrete industrial projects, some of which, if not the majority, are of a military nature.
Tests in the hypersonic blower JF-12 of the IMECH Institute
Thus, the first Chinese scramjet machine with axisymmetric configuration, developed by the aerospace group CASIC, realized its inaugural flight in 2012 and reached a speed higher than Mach 5, at an altitude of more than 20 km.
The DF-ZF military hypersonic glider project, which has already completed seven successful flights between 2014 and 2016, may also have benefited from some of the results of this NSFC program. It is the same for another hypersonic drone project, developed this time by the aerospace company AVIC (see our article " ").
The NSFC, which was chaired by the Chinese Prime Minister, was set up in February 1986 with the aim of developing the system for distributing funds for research and development in the country.
Since 2010, this foundation devotes more than 10 billion yuan (~ 1.3 billion euros) each year to finance the various projects in all scientific fields. The sum reached a new record in 2016 with more than 19 billion Yuan spent in a single year.
With 190 million Yuan funded over 10 years, this fundamental R & D program around Near Space hypersonic devices is probably only a grain of sand in the tip of the iceberg. In this conquest of speed and altitude already launched between the great powers of the world, China's strategic objectives to develop these new vectors of ultra-rapid projection, the scientific and industrial framework that have been set up to support the various Developments, and how these projects are funded and carried out so far, are all worthy of further exploration.
To be continued.
Henri K.
Share this article
It has advance greatly the fundamental science of Hypersonic flight and control and create a rich body of patent, material,aerodynamic,propulsion, technical demonstrator
After nearly 10 years of development, , which has the objective of addressing the fundamental scientific issues around the " hypersonic vehicles manoeuvrable long range, moving between 30 and 70 km altitude ".
Laser scattering of burning nanoparticles Scramjet (Source: NSFC)
Started in April 2007, this program has already financed a total of 173 subjects, 26 of them qualified major and 5 strategic, with a total budget of 190 million Yuan.
These projects aim to achieve concrete results in aerodynamics, advanced propulsion, structure and ultra-light materials, prediction of the thermal environment and its protection, as well as the intelligent and autonomous control of hypersonic gear.
Researchers from some thirty different teams have published more than 2,200 theses listed in SCI and EI, filed 270 patents, and presented some of the results of their research 150 times before their international colleagues.
Please note that we regularly find some of the names associated with them weapons Chinese hypersonic projects, such as the craft Boost-Glide DF-ZF , or the Sramjet propelled vehicles, which have gradually emerged from Of 2012.
The NSFC communiqué indicates that the program has achieved significant and innovative results in the following areas:
- With the new theories in complex hypersonic flow, Chinese scholars have deepened their understanding of the multi-physical effects in the issue. They also developed models and associated simulation methods, and mastered high-precision aerodynamic and thermal test methods.
Testing of ablative materials (Source: NSFC)
- New methods for designing the air intake of hypersonic devices have been developed which have led to a better understanding of the hypersonic combustion mechanism and to the development of methods to control it effectively and stably. The research also filled the gaps in specific propellant, and improved the ability to integrate the propulsion with the fuselage.
- The new concepts and methods for the fine control of hypersonic devices have been applied successfully in industrial projects. Flight dynamics modeling was established, as were the self-adaptive active flight control methods and the air-thermo-elastic vibration control methods.
Synopsis of NSFC's "空间 飞行器 飞行器 飞行器 的 基础 问题 programme" program (Source: East Pendulum)
The interest of this fundamental research program lies in the fact that it has made it possible to train some thirty teams of young researchers in the field of Near Space and in hypersonics. These researchers, both academic and industrial, have built a solid scientific framework to support concrete industrial projects, some of which, if not the majority, are of a military nature.
Tests in the hypersonic blower JF-12 of the IMECH Institute
Thus, the first Chinese scramjet machine with axisymmetric configuration, developed by the aerospace group CASIC, realized its inaugural flight in 2012 and reached a speed higher than Mach 5, at an altitude of more than 20 km.
The DF-ZF military hypersonic glider project, which has already completed seven successful flights between 2014 and 2016, may also have benefited from some of the results of this NSFC program. It is the same for another hypersonic drone project, developed this time by the aerospace company AVIC (see our article " ").
The NSFC, which was chaired by the Chinese Prime Minister, was set up in February 1986 with the aim of developing the system for distributing funds for research and development in the country.
Since 2010, this foundation devotes more than 10 billion yuan (~ 1.3 billion euros) each year to finance the various projects in all scientific fields. The sum reached a new record in 2016 with more than 19 billion Yuan spent in a single year.
With 190 million Yuan funded over 10 years, this fundamental R & D program around Near Space hypersonic devices is probably only a grain of sand in the tip of the iceberg. In this conquest of speed and altitude already launched between the great powers of the world, China's strategic objectives to develop these new vectors of ultra-rapid projection, the scientific and industrial framework that have been set up to support the various Developments, and how these projects are funded and carried out so far, are all worthy of further exploration.
To be continued.
Henri K.
Share this article