The USAF X-51A Waverider Scramjet has achieved the incredible feat of flying at a speed of more than six times the speed of sound. We are leaving the days behind when supersonic flight is considered to be an accomplishment. The term now is hypersonic flight. The X-51 maintained this speed for more than three minutes. This is one of the very first steps that we are taking in this direction and it seems to hold a lot of promise. Our Air Force ring customers who work with this new technology are in a field which has a lot of promise and room for growth,.
Scramjet technology uses the speed of the aircraft to generate more speed,. The aircraft must get to a supersonic speed to cause air to flow into a tube. The air which is compressed by the high speed of the aircraft is then mixed with combustible fuel which compresses it even more,. The scram engine has few moving parts so it is probably more maintenance efficient. Future speed estimates reach between mach 12 and 24.
The scramjet engine is a variation of the ramjet engine but it is a much faster engine. The major difference in the two is that the airflow is not hindered in the scramjet. The scramjet is not active until the aircraft reaches hypersonic speed. Once it does the air is mixed with fuel in the combustion chamber which produces even more speed,. The trick is creating combustion at such a high speed. It basically doesnt kick in until about mach 4.5. Booster rockets may be used to generate the acceleration to get the scramjet up to operating speed or the engine may be a combination ramjet/scramjet engine.
Since the flow of air is not hindered when it reaches the combustion chamber there is less drag produced. This means less friction which results in less heat, and a more efficient engine than the ramjet, however many technical concerns which will have to be addressed before they can be produced for regular use. One interesting thing that I noted when I was doing the research for this article is that no scramjet engine has ever been built to survive a test flight. The stresses of obtaining this type speed must be great and I wonder how viable an option the scramjet is at this particular point in time.
There are many military and civilian applications for this technology with the military side seeming to hold the most promise. This technology would be useful in civilian applications but I cant see where it would be of much benefit,. The speed is good but other than space and emergency transportation it wouldnt be needed very much.
Supersonic flight technology requires far too much fuel to be beneficial for commercial use. There are not very many commercial applications that I can think of which would require supersonic or even hypersonic speed.
The military side of the picture on the other hand is a different story. Speed is always good for the military because it means that you can get in and out quickly. It helps you maintain surprise and shock when conducting offensive operations. It is also useful when you have to get away in a hurry.
The scramjet design is interesting because it is a part of the design of the aircraft itself. The waverider is a design in which the vehicle fuselage is designed to funnel the air through the scram engine the air is collected or scooped into the engine through the fuselage which then narrows to force it into a smaller space thus compressing it. The compressed air is then ignited in the narrowest part of the engine which superheats it and causes it to expand very rapidly. The rapidly expanding air forces itself out of the rear of the engine thus producing lift and thrust. The fuselage of the aircraft itself serves as a sort of wing, thus the name waverider.
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