COBEM99

S8 Engenharia Aeroespacial

Title:

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MHD ASSISTED HYPERSONIC AIR INLETS

Summary :

ABSTRACT TWO MHD ASSISTED HYPERSONIC AIR INLETS FOR ADVANCED PROPULSION CONCEPTS ARE BEING CURRENTLY TESTED IN THE RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE-RPI 65 CM HYPERSONIC SHOCK TUNNEL. THE FIRST ONE, SHOWING AN AXISYMMETRIC GEOMETRY, FITTED WITH 24 OPEN-TOP MHD CHANNELS ON ITS PERIPHERY AND TWO PULSED BITTER TYPE COILS, WAS SUCCESSFULLY TESTED AT MACH 7,8. APPROPRIATE RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE, 4.100 K AND 850 PSI, GENERATED BY THE SHOCK TUNNEL, PROVIDED THE NEEDED AIR ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY BEHIND THE CONICAL SHOCK WAVE. THE TESTS INDICATED THAT, DUE TO THE INTERACTION OF THE HIGH SPEED, HIGH TEMPERATURE, AIRFLOW IN THE CHANNELS AND THE PERPENDICULAR PULSED MAGNETIC FIELD, THE HYPERSONIC AIRFLOW, PAST THE CHANNELS, WAS DECELERATED. LASER BASED SCHLIEREN AND LUMINOSITY PHOTOGRAPHS REVEALED THE FLOW DECELERATION DUE TO ENERGY EXTRACTION. THE EXTRACTED VOLTAGE WAS ALSO RECORDED AS A FUNCTION OF THE ELECTRICAL EXTERNAL RESISTOR. DUE TO THE MODEL COMPLEXITY AND THE LACK OF A SECOND POWER SUPPLY, THE ACCELERATION OF THE CONDUCTING AIRFLOW PAST THE MHD CHANNELS COULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED. TO OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM, A SECOND INLET DISPLAYING A 2-D GEOMETRY, ONE OPEN-TOP MHD CHANNEL AND PERMANENT ND-FE-BO MAGNETS, IS PRESENTLY UNDERGOING TESTS IN THE RPI FACILITY. KEY WORDS: MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS, HYPERSONICS, AIR INLETS, SHOCK TUNNEL, LASER PROPULSION

Author :

Minucci, Marco Antonio Sala
Myrabo, Leik Normand
Nagamatsu, Henry T.

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