This chapter presents an overview of basic concepts and formulations pertaining to air‐breathing propulsion systems. It begins with a schematic of the NASA X‐43A experimental vehicle to use as a reference. The X‐43A airframe‐integrated scramjet engine uses the vehicle forebody and afterbody as external compression and expansion surfaces, which are continuations of the engine's inlet and nozzle, respectively. The chapter also provides the performance metrics for air‐breathing propulsion (including ram/scramjets) and emphasizes that even in preliminary analysis of hypersonic flow, the calorically perfect gas assumption for air is not appropriate. In hypersonic flow, compression Mach waves may coalesce to form an oblique shock wave. The fluid temperature, pressure, and density increase dramatically across shock waves. The governing differential equations of Rayleigh flow are usually developed and solved to describe Rayleigh flow property ratios with respect to the values at the choking location.


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    Title :

    Theoretical Background


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2022-11-18


    Size :

    35 pages




    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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