E-Thesis 366 views
CFD-Based Performance Characterisation of a Reaction Engines SABRE Intake / REBECCA DURRANT
Swansea University Author: REBECCA DURRANT
Abstract
Reaction Engines Limited (REL) have been developing their Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) since 1989. SABRE is a hypersonic, pre-cooled, hybrid airbreathing rocket engine which is being developed alongside Skylon. Skylon is a spaceplane vehicle concept designed to achieve single-stage...
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Swansea University, Wales, UK
2024
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Master of Research |
| Degree name: | MSc by Research |
| Supervisor: | Evans, B. and Walton, S. |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66844 |
| Abstract: |
Reaction Engines Limited (REL) have been developing their Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) since 1989. SABRE is a hypersonic, pre-cooled, hybrid airbreathing rocket engine which is being developed alongside Skylon. Skylon is a spaceplane vehicle concept designed to achieve single-stage-to-orbit hypersonic flight with a horizontal take-off and landing.This study aimed to investigate the impact of flow spillage on the overall performance of SABRE over the air-breathing Mach range for each position of the moveable intake cone to understand how the intake performs at different mass capture ratios. The FLITE3D CFD system was used to run steady-state simulations. Spillage drag occurs when the airflow of the captured streamtube airflow exceeds the maximum airflow the engine requires. The excess air spills over the cowl lip and causes drag. Pressure recovery, the ratio of freestream total pressure to the mean total pressure of the intake surface, was used to quantify the intake performance.This thesis includes an overview of a previous turbulence model study carried out on the Skylon geometry, and an investigation into the stability of the FLITE3D solver at flows of up to Mach 5, also using the Skylon geometry. A converged solution for the SABRE intake was not achieved at Mach 2.00 or above, and unstart is observed at this flow speed. A method of gradually relaxing the massflow rate imposed on the intake surface is used, increasing pressure recovery predictions.It is suspected that the actual solution for flows of Mach 2.00 and above are transient and future work will need to be carried out to meet the original project aims. |
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| Item Description: |
Due to Embargo and/or Third Party Copyright restrictions, this thesis is not available via this service. |
| Keywords: |
CFD, SABRE, pressure recovery |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |