The second X-51 supersonic combustion scramjet test vehicle actually produced more thrust than expected before the test flight ended in failure, a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) official told a U.S. House Aerospace Luncheon on Sept. 15.
Scramjets would enable flight at hypersonic speed of more than Mach 5.
"The neat thing that happened on the second flight is that … we made too much thrust, we made too much power," said X-51 program director Charles Brink.
The thrust difference between the first test vehicle and the second vehicle was large and had not been seen before in ground tests. Scientists working on the program were mystified and have yet to fully understand what happened, Brink said
"That's really making us scratch our bearings and say 'how did that happen?' " he said.
Brink said there were big differences between how the ground test articles worked and how the vehicle performed in-flight. Brink said his disappointment has been tempered by the knowledge that the engine produces more power than previously thought.
"If we can harness that thrust, that's the trick," he said.
The program hopes to fly a third test vehicle in the spring. Additionally, the AFRL is hoping to embark up on a new "robust scramjet" project, which would create a normal fighter-sized engine.
Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group, Fairfax, Va., said that the less-than-stellar test results were not a huge surprise because scramjet technology has been researched for decades without tangible results.
"It's not really clear that this is a technology that can be matured," he said.
Numerous scramjet projects have come and gone over the last 25 years, and most likely more will come and go over the next 25, Aboulafia said. Nor is he particularly optimistic about the AFRL prospects to develop a larger scramjet engine that would actually work.
"This might be one of those cold fusion moments," Aboulafia said.
But if scramjet technology could be perfected, he said, it would be very useful.
No comments:
Post a Comment