DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
FALL 2013

Gas Dynamics
MECH 6111
Dr. Pierre Q. Gauthier

Scramjets
Prepared by:

Alejandro Guerrero Zamora

6477607

Eusebio Olalde

6708307

2013-12-20

Tabla de contenido
1 Scope ........................................................................................................................... 1
2 Technical Overview ...................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Hypersonic machines ............................................................................................. 3
2.2 Principle of ramjets ................................................................................................ 5
2.3 Scramjets ............................................................................................................... 7
2.3.1 Scramjet fuel injection [7] .................................................................................. 9
2.3.2 Wind tunnel problematic ................................................................................ 11
2.3.3 Fuels .............................................................................................................. 12
2.3.4 Thermal protection systems (TPS) [1] ............................................................. 13
3 International Scramjet Developments......................................................................... 15
3.1 International Chronicle of Scramjet Development ................................................ 15
United States ....................................................................................................... 15
France ................................................................................................................. 16
Russia ................................................................................................................. 17
Germany .............................................................................................................. 18
Japan................................................................................................................... 19
Australia .............................................................................................................. 19
3.2 Recent Scramjet Developments ....................................................................... 22
4 Future Developments ................................................................................................. 24
5 Conclusions and Remarks ......................................................................................... 25
6 References ................................................................................................................. 26

Scramjets

1 Scope
This work deals with an introductory overview of the Supersonic Combustion RAM-jet
(SCRAMjet) for Hypersonic air-breathing propulsion applications, which has been considered the
most promising technology for powering vehicles at high Mach number speeds, since its
establishment as a solution for more efficient hypersonic propulsion during the 1950s [5].
International efforts on Research and Development (R&D) projects of Scramjet are summarized
in order to provide a global picture of the most important contributions to this technology in
different countries. For the last 60 years, hypersonic air-breathing propulsion has been of big
priority to the most important national aerospace programs in the world; the most significant
developments and results of the scramjet projects carried in Russia, USA, Australia, France,
Germany, Japan and England are discussed.
In an air-breathing engine, when flight speeds reach the hypersonic regime, the total pressure
and temperature contained inside are very large, so large that in order to maintain the static
pressures within the structural limits of a suitable mass engine, the working fluid must flow
through the engines core at supersonic speeds. This flow characteristic becomes a problem in
the combustion part of the cycle, for two main reasons [6]:

Fuel ignition becomes a difficult task when operating in this regime.

Flow of air inside the engine is so fast, that even a close to instantaneous reaction like
combustion becomes hard to be completely achieved before the flow leaves the
combustor.

The RAM-jet engine has been utilized in missiles and other hi-speed applications for a long time
now

[7]

, but its operation speed limits have been restricted below the hypersonic regime by the

combustors capability of overcoming these problems when burning fuel at such speeds. The
present work covers mainly the research and developments of the Supersonic Combustion part
of the scramjet engine, such as combustor performance and combustor-inlet interactions.
The present scramjet engines development situation is assessed to give a base ground on the
operation cycle and performance of this hypersonic engine, as well as the critical gaps that still
remain unfilled in order to put the scramjet into operation in the following years.
1

Scramjets

2 Technical Overview
After World War II several countries including the United States, Russia, China, Japan, Australia
among other realize that hypersonic flights were a necessity to achieve better war gear, less
expensive commercial flights and means to bring load to outer space. Since then, there have
been a lot of sole and combined efforts from all these countries to achieve hypersonic propulsion.
However, the list of technical design difficulties related to hypersonic flights is really long, just to
mention some; aerothermodynamics environment, propulsion systems, structure, flight control
systems. Moreover there are decisive factors to consider as weight, complexity, variability,
longevity, cost, handling, stowability, etc.

[1]

Some of these factors and difficulties will be

addressed in the present work with the most resent research available.
But, what is hypersonic flight? To answer this question, the dimensionless relation known as
Mach number should be presented. It relates the local velocity of the free stream (V) with the
local sonic velocity (a) as,
1.1
The Mach number yields to 4 different speeds of flight, also known as regimes of flight: subsonic
(M<1), transonic (M1), supersonic (M>1) and hypersonic (M>5). To have an idea about the
meaning of the number; speed of sound at sea level is 768 miles per hour or 1,236 kilometers
per hour, thus an hypersonic flight at sea level will require to achieve a speed of at least 3840
miles per hour or 6180 kilometers per hour. As mentioned by H. K. Beckmann Mach number is
like aborigine counting: one, two, three, four, many. Once you reach many, the flow is
hypersonic. [2]
It is possible to see that it is difficult to achieve that speed; furthermore there is a lot of
information that remains unknown or unaware, as presented in the Knowledge Management
Space developed by Matsch and McMasters[1]. The graph is divided into 4 quadrants, each one
representing the level of knowledge available; the first quadrant is information known that we are
aware what we know we know. The second quadrant is information unknown but we are aware
what we know we dont know. The third quadrant is the most dangerous one, the information
that we do not know and we are not aware what we dont know we dont know. This is the main
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reason a lot of tests developed either on wind tunnels or with actual prototypes result in damage
of equipment, unexpected behavior of the system, wrong data or, as it has happened before, in
lost of lives. And finally the last quadrant is information known but we are not aware what
someone knows, but that we havent found yet. Figure 1.1 shows all 4 quadrants.

Figure 1.1 Knowledge Management Domain [2]

Hypersonic flights research is full of gaps related to the second and third quadrant, however
scientist and researchers should focus their energies to solve second quadrant as it represent
capabilities we have but we have not fully developed or they are further from our current
technology. Usually they try to compensate them with over protection, over design, adding
structural or thermal protection or by restricting certain flight conditions.

2.1 Hypersonic machines

Any propulsion machine is capable to work efficiently throughout different flight regimes. So the
use of combine engine cycles is required. It means that in order to an aircraft achieves a speed
over Mach 5, it must have a propulsion system from take off to a low Mach number, perhaps 2 or
3, and after another propulsion system will accelerate it up to the final desired speed. Hence, the
aircraft will have to carry more than one propulsion system, increasing the price, complexity and
weight of the overall aircraft. Furthermore, fuel is one of the biggest limitations each propulsion
system will have. With the concern about greener technologies and the imminent shortage of
fossil fuels, there have been developments in this field. However, with the current state of the art,
most engines work with some kind of fossil fuel. As shown in Figure 1.2 and 1.3 different
propulsion engines with different regimes can be added to each other to have a wider speed

Scramjets
spectrum as well as the use of hydrogen as fuel. Also in Table 1.1 a comparison of some
hypersonic applications with the technology related to them is presented.

Figure 1.2 Specific impulse and achievable Mach number

for different propulsion machines[2]

Figure 1.3 Engine options for different Mach numbers [6]

Scramjets

Mach number

Aerodynamic
technology

Missiles

Maneuvering reentry
vehicles

Global reach
aircraft systems

Space launch

1-6

0-20

0-18

0-25

High lift/drag
ratio

High lift/drag ratio

Low drag

Minimal aero heating

Flow modification

Rocket
Propulsion

Ramjet /
Scramjet

Rocket

Fuel

Hydrocarbon

Heat sink

Thermal protection

Ablatives

Radiation cooled

Structure

High lift/drag ratio

Low aero heating

Low drag

Low drag

Airframe-prop
integration

Airframe-prop integration

Rocket

Rocket

Ramjet / Scramjet

Ramjet / Scramjet

Hydrocarbon

Hydrocarbon

Hydrogen

Hydrogen

Fuel cooled
Radiation cooled
Long life structure

Fuel cooled
Radiation cooled
Low structural weight
fraction

Table 1.1 Comparison of some hypersonic application [2]

So, from the information provided above, it is possible to see that there are 3 propulsion
machines capable to achieve Mach 5 or greater. However the ones in our interest are ramjets
and scramjet. They are really similar, but with some different fundamental principles that turn
them into completely different machines. Both of them are capable to achieve hypersonic speed,
however scramjets can reach (theoretically) speeds up to Mach 15 as ramjets only up to Mach 6.

2.2 Principle of ramjets

The ramjet can be credited to the French Rene Lorin, who patented in 1908. Although it was a
subsonic ramjet, it gave the general idea of the functioning. He never could build such a machine
because in that time there was no aircraft capable to achieve the speed required to make the
ramjet functions properly. It is a simple machine without any moving parts as it compresses the
airflow through the change of internal geometry. However, as mentioned before, it is not suitable
for a full range of speeds, especially during take-off, as dynamic pressure caused by subsonic
airflow inside the chamber of the ramjet is really low, making it inefficient.[6] Also, as shown in
5

Scramjets
table 1.1, on the section of propulsion, usually the ramjet (scramjet) is not implemented by itself;
rather it is used with a rocket. The reason is that compression depends on velocity and
decreases dramatically with vehicle speed.[3] So, during take-off rocket provides the required
initial acceleration. The operation principle is that air enters to the compression area, an inlet and
a diffuser, after it will go to the combustion chamber, where is mixed with injected fuel and ignited.
The combustion of the oxygen and fuel produces energy, which is transmitted to the gas in form
of high speed expansion, directed to the outer nozzle. The speed of the output air is higher than
the input, thus there will be production of thrust. In comparison with normal turbomachinery,
where air compression is accomplished by means of moving parts, with a speed of Mach 3 or
higher, there is no sustain gain in the pressure efficiency, making machines with changes in
geometry more suitable and efficient for these regimes.
Since its conceptions, according to Ronal S. Fry There are key enabling technologies,
components, or events that had significant impact on the maturation of ramjet propulsion and
engine designs. All these key matters are classified into 10 different sections [6]:
1. High speed aerodynamics analysis: Study of flows with the aid of computational tools as CFD
and the improvement in design tools and techniques.
2. Air induction system technology: Improved designs of fixed and variable geometries,
subsonic, supersonic and dual-flow paths, integration with airframes, mixed cycle flow path
development and improved materials.
3. Combustor technology: Study of fuel mapping and heat transfer distribution, improved
insulators and structural materials and combustion ignition, piloting and flame holding.
4. Ramjet/scramjet fuels: Study of low temperature, high energy and endothermic solid and
liquid fuels.
5. Fuel management systems: Improved injectors, spray distribution, feed systems and
feedback control systems.
6. Propulsion/airframe integration, materials and thermal management: Improved metal alloys,
structures, passive and active cooling devices and fiber reinforced composites.
7. Solid propellant booster technology: Development in tandem, integral rocket-ramjet boosters
and self-boosted ramjet
8. Ejectable and nonejectable technology: Development in inlets, port covers and nozzles.

Scramjets
9. Thermochemical modeling and simulation development: Development in thermochemical
tables, cycle analysis and performance modeling.
10. Ground test methodologies: Improved airflow quality, instrumentation and flight-test
correlation.

2.3 Scramjets
In summary, the ramjet operation is based on air entering to the inlet at a supersonic speed and
low pressure, decelerated to subsonic speed and high pressure, two conditions that provide
more convenient combustion conditions. After it is exhaust to the nozzle to provide thrust. But,
when the incoming air is travelling too fast, around Mach 5, the static pressure and temperature
produced from decelerating the flow to subsonic speed are really high, causing molecular
dissociation of the incoming flow and excessive material stress.[7] To overcome this limitation, it
was proposed to decelerate the air but keeping it still supersonic; this was called supersonic
ramjet or scramjet.
As shown in figure 1.4, due to the condition in the combustion chamber for the ramjet a physical
nozzle is installed to maintain the desired inlet operational conditions. However, for the
supersonic counterpart an area increase is expected to provide the right heat conditions during
the combustion gas release. [3]

Figure 1.4 Schematic of ramjet and scramjet engines[3]

More differences between them are: [3]
1. Due to the absence of terminal normal shock in scramjet system, the stagnation pressure
recovery, a parameter used to measure the amount of pressure loss in the inlet and diffuser
system, is about 30 times larger. Thus, making scramjets more efficient as the engine thrust
loses 1% for each 1% of loss in pressure recovery. [3]
2. As temperature difference among the entrance of the ramjet combustion chamber and further
downstream in the nozzle are relatively high and chemical equilibrium needed to convert
7

Scramjets
recovered heat into kinetic energy require long distances, heavier and longer nozzles have to
be designed. [3]
3. A limiting design factor for ramjets is the ratio of the nozzle throat and capture area, if this
ratio is increase then the thrust will be increased as well. But, producing a heavier nozzle.
Whereas, for scramjets, during deceleration of the flow the physical throat is substitute by a
thermal throat. [3]
4. A lighter construction and increased system efficiency is accomplish with scramjets by the
lower static pressure which reduces the structural load of engines ducts. [3]
It is possible to say that all these facts are the bright side of scramjet. However when it comes
to its operational characteristics and its integration with the aircraft, a lot of considerable design
difficulties have to be taken into account. [3]
1. The time air remains inside the scramjet is in the order of millisecond, hence to provide an
optimal mix between oxygen and fuel is complicated, as air remains in the combustion
chamber very few time. Usually, mechanism to accelerate the mix are used, however they
create momentum losses, sacrificing the overall efficiency of the engine. [3]
2. The fact that air travels so fast create the problem of maintaining the flame on, so flame
holders must be placed. [3]
3. The high speeds aircraft achieves will create a large temperature around itself and the
engine. Usually, fuel is used as coolant. Most common fuels are liquid hydrogen and
hydrocarbons. Liquid hydrogen is a good choice to cool down the entire engine; however it
has a very low density, thus larger amounts of fuel have to be carried for each flight. Whereas,
hydrocarbons have higher density but its cooling capacity is smaller and sometimes not
enough to absorb all the heat created around the engine and the

aircraft. [3]

4. A recurrent problem, already mentioned in previous sections, is the fact that scramjets
cannot operate from takeoff and during low speed flight they are very inefficient. Hence, more
propulsion devices are required. But as speed increases, the integration between vehicle
aerodynamics and engine performance become more coupled. Also the integration of
several components in the aircraft will add more weight and aerodynamics problems, related
mostly to creation of drag.

Scramjets
5. Testing new concept in ground represents a challenge itself, because the difficulty to achieve
high Mach numbers and the noise that the tunnel creates, which interferes with the boundary
layer transition. [1]
Further explanation of some of these issues will be provided.

2.3.1 Scramjet fuel injection [7]

In order to have efficient combustion inside the scramjet the mix between air and fuel must be
almost in stoichiometric proportions. But, as mentioned in problem number 1 of section 2.2, the
speed of the air passing in the combustion chamber is really high, providing a really small
amount of time to produce the mixture and ignite it. Also, one of the main fuels used;
hydrocarbons, have a long ignition delay, compared with liquid hydrogen, requiring more
advanced mixing techniques. This is why injectors have a huge impact in the overall
performance of the engine. They have to provide a quick mixing and combustion of air and fuel,
providing a smaller and shorter combustor. Besides, they must interfere as less as possible with
the total pressure losses since these losses reduce the thrust. Finally the fuel distribution inside
the engine should be really uniform providing an efficient nozzle expansion process. Some of the
most common injectors used in scramjet application will be described below.
1. Parallel injection. It consists of flow of air and fuel travelling parallel to each other and
separated by a splitter plate. At the end of the plate they will mix by a shear layer created by
the difference of velocities both fluids have.

Figure 1.5 Schematic of a parallel fuel injector

2. Normal injection. It consists of a blast of fuel in a direction perpendicular to the air through a
port on the wall. The problem is that a detached normal shock is created upstream of the
injector, causing flow separation and losses in total pressure, thus affecting the efficiency of
9

Scramjets
the engine. However, separation can be used downstream as a flame holder. In overall is not
a very efficient method as the mixing rate is not so high.

Figure 1.6 Schematic of a normal injector

3. Ramp injectors. This method is an improvement of the parallel injection. It consists of ramps
that have an injector on the trailing edge adding velocity to the fuel and increasing fuel mixing.
These ramps also create normal shocks and expansion fans, hence pressure gradients
increase mixing as well. There are two kinds of ramps, expansion and compression ramps.
As compressing ramps increase the fuel air mixing, expansion ramps have higher
combustion efficiency. However, the way ramps are placed inside the combustion chamber
provides low fuel penetration throughout the flow field.

Figure 1.7 Schematic of ramp injectors

4. Strut injector. It consists of a strut with a wedge leading edge placed all along the vertical axis
of the combustion chamber, injectors are placed on the trailing edge of the strut, this provides
the fuel to be added in all the flow field. It can be added either parallel or normal to the free
stream direction. However, it produces high pressures losses, decreasing its performance.
Recently research suggests that with a different shape of strut, pressure losses can be
10

Scramjets
decreased, some suggestions are to change the shape of the trailing edge or to make a strut
in a diamond shape.

Figure 1.8 Schematic of a strut injector

5. Pylon injection: It is very similar to the parallel injection method but instead of having just a
splitter plate, there is a tall narrow in-stream body. Injection could be either axial, normal or at
some angle. Research has showed that flow penetration and mixing are high as pressure
losses low, in comparison with the previous methods.

Figure 1.9 Schematic of a central pylon fuel injector

Certainly, there are many more injection systems. Just to mention some; plasma igniter,
upstream injector, barbitage injection system, pulsed injector, cavity-pylon flame holder,
micro-flame holder, conventional scale bluff body flame holder, cantilever fuel injector, however it
is not the purpose of this work to go in depth of all these, rather is to present the basic idea and
reference of all of them.

2.3.2 Wind tunnel problematic

Definitely it is not easy to perform ground test in wind tunnels for very high Mach number. It is
easy to figure it, because the means to achieve a Mach number where the local velocity of the
11

Scramjets
free stream is 5 or more time larger than the local sonic velocity are complicated. Basically, and
according to equation 1.1, there are two solutions to this problem, one is to provide a really high
free stream velocity and the other one is to make sonic velocity really small. In order to make a
decision the equation to get the speed of sound is shown:

1.2

Where is the heat capacity ratio, R the universal gas constant and T is the local temperature in
kelvin degrees.
So, from the two solution proposed, the first one provides a really challenging situation as the
free stream velocity of Mach 5 or higher is difficult to accomplish. Hence, the second solution will
bring an easier way to achieve wind tunnel testing. From equation 1.2, it is possible to see that
and R are gas constants; therefore the only parameter that could be varied is the temperature.
Hence, test gas is expanded to provide a static temperature just above liquefaction temperature.
This is a safe path to achieve a high Mach number and keeping safe the surrounding equipment.
As total enthalpies related to hypersonic flights are really high, simulation of these conditions are
not possible to recreate in ground without causing equipment damage or just for a very small
period of time.
Another wind tunnel problem is related to the prediction of boundary layer transition is difficult to
understand and predict. A variety of experiments have been performed to produce a
semi-empirical model to predict transition at different flight conditions as well as attempts to use
linear stability theory, but all of them have inaccurate results. Recent research points that maybe,
one of the problems to get accurate results is the noise produce by the wind tunnel. If it is true, all
the information gotten so far will have to be discarded. [1] And a quiet hypersonic wind tunnel
must be constructed; however difficulties for this task are still in the second quadrant of
Figure 1.1.

2.3.3 Fuels
As mentioned before, there are two different fuels used for scramjets application, both of them
having advantages and disadvantages. Table 1.1 shows a comparison of them.

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Advantages

Limitations

tanks are required, creating a

It can be used as a coolant of the

larger cross section and increasing

engine as well as the external

Liquid

the drag, surface heating and

surfaces.

vehicle weight.

hydrogen

Small density, hence larger fuel

Faster combustion and mixing

rates

Boiling point of hydrogen is low

(20 K), hence it is required to carry
cryogenic tanks.

Larger boiling point, facilitating

logistics.

Hydrocarbons

Large density, hence smaller fuel

tanks are required.

Lower cooling capacity

Specific impulse is near one third

of hydrogens.

Table 1.2 Comparison of scramjet fuels [1]

2.3.4 Thermal protection systems (TPS) [1]

Environment for vehicles travelling at a hypersonic speed is severe, so, thermal protection
systems are installed to provide insolation to critical parts of the aircraft. This protection is divided
into 3 categories; passive, semi-passive and active. The main difference among them is the
system to extract the heat. Passive uses no fluid to remove the heat. Semi-passive uses fluid,
however it does not have an external pumping or circulation system. Finally active uses fluid and
an external pumping system. As different parts of the vehicle may be exposed to different kind of
flight conditions, it may be possible to use more than one protection system.
Passive systems are mainly thermal insulations made of different materials; organic composites
as carbon-carbon composites, metal matrix composites as titanium-aluminide alloys or ceramic
matrix composites as silicon nitride or silicon carbide.
Semi-passive systems are heat pipes and ablators. Heat pipe is a heat transfer device
composed of a container, a wick and coolant. It is useful when there is an area of localized heat
just beside an area of low heat. The heat transfer is perform by the coolant, which vaporizes as it
13

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is heated, then the hot gas moves to the cool side of the heat pipe to discharge the heat and after
it comes back through the wick to start the process again. Ablators are used where really high
temperatures are reached. It is a layer of a chemical product that will pyrolyze as it absorbs heat,
leaving a layer of char between the outer surface and the ablator.
Finally, the concept of active systems is using pipes and pumps to circulate coolant through the
high heat zones, absorbing it and then bringing it to a low heat area. Where it is discharged and
the process starts again. In comparison, this is the best method to keep the key areas cool,
however, it is expensive and makes the design more complex. Also, the weight of the vehicle is
increased from the pipes, pumps and coolants. Convective cooling is the only one that does not
add an extra weight from the coolant, as it uses the fuel to cool the structure and then it is
brought to the combustion chamber to be burn. It does not only have a beneficial impact in the
temperature of the cooled area, but it also benefits combustion, as it brings the fuel already hot,
facilitating burning and cutting the time it has to mix with oxygen and burn.

Figure 1.10 Examples of TPS

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3 International Scramjet Developments

The significant scramjet R&D began around a decade after WWII and is still ongoing in combined
and standalone efforts of the leading aerospace propulsion programs and research facilities
around the world

[7]

. The international situation after the war was very tense, the United States

and former Soviet Union started an overwhelming race of scientific and technologic
developments, specially in the military aerospace applications, such as missiles, reconnaissance
aircrafts, satellites and space vehicles; all of these having the particular interest or requirement of
hypersonic cruise speeds. Important developments have also been made in Australia, France,
Japan, Germany and England. Tables 3.1 and 3.2 [7] present a summary of hypersonic flight
projects in the world since the 1950s.

3.1 International Chronicle of Scramjet Development

United States
The Hypersonic Ramjet Engine (HRE) program by NASA was the first extensive program of
scramjet R&D in the US, established with the main purpose of developing and demonstrating
scramjet technology

[4,7]

. The program had to develop a hydrogen-fueled and cooled scramjet

engine with a Mach 4 to 7 range; as well as two demonstration engine models, the structural
assembly model (SAM) and the aerothermodynamic integration model (AIM), independently
tested to corroborate structural and flowpath performance respectively. The 107 tests that were
carried on these models provided an extensive and important performance overview at 5 M 7.
In the US, the supersonic combustion engine development in the following years, the HRE was
not of great importance until 1986, when the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) program was
settled to develop a combined-cycle scramjet to be used in the hypersonic aircraft X-30,
promising to fly up to Mach 25, something unfeasible due to the Hypersonic TRL of that year.
Important advances in CFD and design methodology for hypersonic regimes, as well as new
propulsion integration methods and structures were some of the advances carried at the NASP
program.

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Scramjets

Figure 3.1 First known freejet-tested scramjet by Ferri 1963 [7]

Among the hypersonic flight programs worldwide, probably the most famous and prolific is
NASAs Hyper-X program, launched in 1996 with the purpose of demonstrating in flight the first
hypersonic airframe-scramjet integration, the X-43A.
The Hyper-X program had the objective of verifying and demonstrating experimental,
computational and design advances in the development of the air-breathing hypersonic craft

[7]

required to develop confidence in future hypersonic vehicle designs. The first flight of the X-43A
was attempted in 2001 but the mission was canceled just 13.5 s before launch due to a booster
failure. [8]
France
After the first American studies on scramjet engines, the world research community showed
great interest in hypersonic flights beyond Mach 6-7. The French started the ESCOPE program
in 1966, inspired by the HRE program, focused on demonstrating dual-mode scramjet in a
flight-test program at Mach 7. [7] In a series of tests conducted in 1970 and 1972, complete
supersonic ignition was not achieved, going only until transonic combustion at Mach 5.

16

[4]

Scramjets

Figure 3.2 One of the first supersonic combustion models, US AIM[7]

The development of the scramjet in France gained momentum again with the launch of a joint
government-academia-industry Program of Research and Technology for Air-breathing
Hypersonic Aircraft (PREPHA) in 1987-1999. PREPHA was oriented to prepare a new
generation of engineers with an inside experience in hypersonic air-breathing propulsion
technology for the development of future long-term applications.

[4,7]

The Promethe project

started in 1999, concerning an air-to-surface missile with flight speeds of Mach 2-8 at high
altitudes.
Russia
Scramjet R&D in Russia has been on the map since the late 1950s, having an important
increment in the 1980s and 1990s.

[7]

Because of the Cold War, all the important research

conducted in Russia remained classified until its end in late 1980s, when the war ended; due to
the restricted access to the Russian literature, it was until Curran [4] collected the most important
contributions of the soviets in English edition that they became accessible to the worldwide
scientific community.
Russia had a lot of activity in the early 1990s, performing the very first hypersonic flight test
(Mach 5.35) in 1991, and two combined Russian-French launches in 1992 and 1995. In 1994,
they joint-ventured with NASA to study the operating of the scramjet at full supersonic
combustion.[7] American tests of the Russian engine were planned, but never done. The program
ORYOL was established by the Russian Space Agency to carry a comprehensive research and
development of combined propulsion systems for reusable space transportation.

17

[4]

Scramjets
One of the most promising concepts of hypersonic vehicles started its conception in the mid
1990s.

[4]

The AJAX incorporates three of the most current advancements in supersonic

combustion, Magnetic Hypersonic Deceleration (MHD), Endothermic Fuel Technologies (EFT)

and magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) technologies.

Figure 3.3 The First Russian scramjet model tested 1964 [4]
Germany
Germany entered the hypersonic air-breathing propulsion development efforts first in the 1980s
with the German Hypersonic Technology Program (HTP), which had the purpose to develop the
Snger II concept, a two-stage, fully reusable, future space transportation vehicle.

[4,7]

Cooperating with France, Germany also participated in the development of JAPHAR in 1997,
concerning hypersonic air-breathing propulsion for reusable launch vehicles between Mach 48,
which ended in 2001. [4,7]

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Scramjets
Japan
The National Aerospace Laboratory in Japan has been very active in scramjet R&D since the
beginning of the 1990s. In 1994 the construction of a side-wall compression type scramjet engine
as well as the Ramjet Engine Test Facilit (RJTF) were completed; having the first successful
engine test in March that year. From 1994 to 2000 140 tests were conducted under flow
simulation at Mach 4, 6 and 8.

[4]

At the NAL-KPL, the largest free-piston high-enthalpy shock

tunnel (HEIST) in the world was completed in November 1997.

Australia
The most important contributions of the Australian research are accounted to the T3 and T4
free-piston shock tunnels, located at The Australian National University and at The University of
Queensland respectively.

[9]

First shock tunnel experimentation was conducted in 1981 by

Stalker and Morgan in the T3 shock tunnel, and was continued until the T4 facilities went online
in early 1990s. Given that these facilities are located in universities, the efforts in Australia are
approached from a fundamental point of view, instead of a certain configuration; a variety of
different experiments have been conducted that provide empirical analyses on well-defined
information and an insight to unknown issues that could arise. Many experiments resulted in
more questions than answers; however, big contributions have been made regarding the
combustion of hydrogen, and some critical parameter measuring techniques have been
developed.

Figure 3.4 Ongoing scramjet test in shock tunnel T4 at

Queensland U. Total enthalpy 3MJ/kg [9]

19

Table 3.1 Scramjet Developments 1950 1990 [7]

Scramjets

20

Table 3.2 Scramjet Developments 1990 2003 [7]

Scramjets

21

Scramjets

3.2 Recent Scramjet Developments

The principal ongoing scramjet research program is NASAs Hyper-X program. Having its first
successful flight test in March 2004 reaching Mach 6.8 at approximately 5 000 mph, on
November the same year, the X-43A broke the Guinness World record as the fastest
air-breathing vehicle going up to Mach 9.6, 7 000 mph approx.

[10]

For 10 seconds, the scramjet

engine burned successfully and produced thrust, giving the results needed to keep pushing for
higher hypersonic speeds. This was the ending of the Hyper-X program, setting a invaluable
ground base for air-breathing engines in hypersonic applications. [11]

Figure 3.6 First flight of the X-43A 2001 [11] The X-43A is the black nose seen in the picture, the
rest is a Pegasus rocket, used to bring the air-breathing vehicle to the flight test conditions

Figure 3.7 X-43 A project test vehicle [12]

22

Scramjets
NASA has been simultaneously developing other hypersonic test vehicles, with new and more
complex air-breathing propulsion systems, scramjet-airframe integration, and other technologies
required for Mach 15 cruise operation (X-43C). The X-43 B, or Reusable Combined Cycle Flight
Demonstration (RCCFD), has the objective of demonstrating the latest developments on
combined cycle propulsion technologies, as well as airframe-engine integration technologies. [8]
It has been known for a while now, that the space shuttle era is finished and that the new space
transportation required for manned reentry missions is expected for 2025

[4,11]

and scramjet

propulsion seems to be the launching approach intended for this and many other space
applications.

Figure 3.8 X-43 A project test vehicle [12]

Figure 3.9 X-43 A flight test mission [12]

23

Scramjets

4 Future Developments
The aerospace field is going to be busy with air-breathing hypersonic propulsion for more years
to come. Curran [4], in is broad scramjet research compilation, anticipated that the topics of
greater interest for researchers was in the technologies that would improve the combustion
efficiencies and thus lower the costs of future flight testing as well as the operation costs of the
final developed engines.
Detonation Wave Ramjets are expected to have a better performance than the typical scramjet
at higher Mach numbers. As the air flows into the engine a set of shock waves are intentionally
generated in order to improve air-fuel mixing and igniting the mixture. The detonation wave
connotation was given because when the fuel ignites close to a normal or oblique shock, the
combustion reaction couples with the shock and generates a detonation wave.
The application of Electro-Magnetic Fields to control the flow either around or inside the
hypersonic aircraft shows another interesting concept that can help to achieve higher speeds in a
more efficient way. This technology is based on the release of partially-ionized working
propulsion fluids into the flow and control them with electro-magnetic fields to decelerate the flow
through the engine and facilitating the combustion; or also can be applied to external flow in
order to reduce drag and aerodynamic
heating.
As mentioned in the earlier chapter, both
Russian and American agencies are currently
developing the new class of launching space
vehicle. So we can still expect in several years
to come research on the integration of
airframe and hypersonic engine will be of
great proportion and importance.

Figure 3.10 X-43A flight test mission [12]

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Scramjets

5 Conclusions and Remarks

The supersonic combustion ramjet has been of major global interest for the past 50 years and
keeps growing as an operational hypersonic vehicle comes closer to reality. From the beginning
of the Cold War until today, the task of developing a hypersonic air-breathing propulsion system
has been of enormous difficulty for engineers worldwide, and the progress in the scramjet engine
was slow due to the complexity and technology requirements of this kind of application.
Hypersonic propulsion programs have been very active recently as numerous tests and
experiments on scramjet technologies were conducted by the Hyper-X and SCRAMSPACE

[13]

programs, and at the NAL in Japan. The first stage of the X- programs by NASA, the Hyper-X,
finished in 2004 with the successful 10-second flight of a hypersonic air-breathing propelled
vehicle at almost Mach 10. The following programs are going to be dealing with two other
test-flight vehicles, the X-43C, very similar to the first version but larger and oriented towards
longer steady flights of up to 10 min. The X-43B is a lot different than the previous two, oriented
to reusability demonstration and its going to incorporate the latest advancements in combined
cycle propulsion systems going from Mach 0.77.
The development of a completely tested and efficient scramjet still has a couple of decades to
come, but with the most recent achievements of NASA, and all the programed tests to come in
the next years, there is a very optimistic atmosphere among the R&D teams confronting this
concept development.

25

Scramjets

6 References
[1] John J. Bertin, Russell M. Cummings. Fifty years of hypersonics: where weve been, where
were going, Department of Aeronautics, United States Air Force Academy, 2003.
[2] Bertin JJ. Hypersonic aerothermodynamics, The American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics; 1994.
[3] Corin Segal. The scramjet engine. Process and characteristics. Cambridge University
press, 2009.
[4] Curran, E. T., & Murthy, S. N. B. (2000). Scramjet propulsion. Reston, Va: American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
[5] Swithenbank, J. (January 01, 1967). Hypersonic air-breathing propulsion. Progress in
Aerospace Sciences, 8, 229-294.
[6] Townend, L. H. (November 01, 2001). Domain of the Scramjet. Journal of Propulsion and
Power, 17, 6, 1205-1213.
[7] Fry, R. S. (January 01, 2004). A Century of Ramjet Propulsion Technology Evolution.
Journal of Propulsion and Power, 20, 1, 27-58.
[8] L, M. P., L, R. V., T, N. L., & R, H. J. (January 01, 2004). NASA hypersonic flight
demonstrators-overview, status, and future plans. Acta Astronautica, 55, 619-630.
[9] Stalker, R. J., Paull, A., Mee, D. J., Morgan, R. G., & Jacobs, P. A. (January 01, 2005).
Scramjets and shock tunnelsThe Queensland experience. Progress in Aerospace
Sciences, 41, 6, 471-513.
[10] Thompson, E., Henry, K. & Williams, L. (2005). Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: Guinness
Recognizes NASA Scramjet. NASA News, [online] 20th June. Retrieved from:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/jun/HQ_05_156_X43A_Guinness.html [Accessed:
10 Dec 2013].
[11] McClinton, C. R., Rausch, V. L., Shaw, R. J., Metha, U., & Naftel, C. (January 01, 2005).
Hyper-X: Foundation for future hypersonic launch vehicles. Acta Astronautica, 57, 614-622.
[12] NASA Facts (2004). NASA Hyper-X Program Demonstrates Scramjet Technologies, X-43A
Flight Makes Aviation History. [press release] October 20.
[13] Muller,

D.

(2013).

SCRAMSPACE.

[video

online]

Available

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3785345.htm [Accessed: 15 Dec 2013].

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