HYPERSONIC INLET

HYPERSONIC INLET

• The Hypersonic sonic inlet are used in the inlets which are used in SCRAMJET engine or Supersonic Combustion RAMJET engine.

• These hypersonic inlet are designed in such a way so that the velocity of entering air is reduced from hypersonic speed to Supersonic because in Scramjet engine combustion occurs in supersonic velocity.

SCRAMJET(Computer design of X-43A)

SCRAMJET ENGINE

• Scramjets are designed for flight in the hypersonic ( M > 5 ) regime. Scramjet driven vehicles can potentially go up to speeds of around M 20 as compared to aircraft with conventional engines which can reach a maximum of only M 3 to 4.

• Scramjets differ from conventional air breathing gas turbine engines as the combustion takes place at supersonic speeds.

PRINCIPLE OF SCRAMJET

• As the name indicate Scramjet is a derivative of the ramjet ( in which flow in combustor is subsonic ) and uses the same principle of ‘ramming’ the high velocity air to achieve the high pressures required for efficient combustion.

• Ramjets (or) scramjets do not have compressors and other rotating parts.

• Scramjet ‘inlets’ or ‘air intakes’ perform the function that diffusers perform in conventional engines. They slow down the incoming air at high Mach numbers to a lower Mach number for which they are designed.

SCRAMJET ENGINE WITH HYPERSONIC INLET

HYPERSONIC INLETS

Hypersonic inlets used in scramjets fall into three-different categories, based on the type of compression that is utilized. These THREE types are

External compressionMixed compressionInternal compression

X-43A & B-52B

The Pegasus booster accelerating the X-43A, shortly after booster ignition (March 27, 2004)

THANK YOU