Nonequilibrium Heating/Cooling Effects in a Mach Number 10 Hydrogen-Fueled Scramjet

Abstract

The influence of thermal/chemical nonequilibrium on a hydrogen-fueled [Formula: see text] 10 scramjet was analyzed by combining the JF-2 4 s hock tunnel test and improved delayed detached eddy simulation modeling. A remarkable change in flame stabilization mode when incorporating the two-temperature nonequilibrium model was observed. The nonequilibrium heating and cooling effects were analyzed for different sections of the scramjet. The nonequilibrium heating effect facilitates the upstream flame propagation by inducing an early ignition and thickening the inlet boundary layer. The nonequilibrium heating or cooling effect is generally weak in the nearly constant-area isolator and combustor, where the flow is mainly influenced by the chemical nonequilibrium with a variation of 10% in reaction rate. The nonequilibrium cooling effect mainly exists in the expanding nozzle, where [Formula: see text], but the energy replenishment from vibrational mode to trans-rotational mode is nearly frozen when [Formula: see text]. Under both conditions, the final mixing is nearly complete, and net thrust has been achieved. When considering the nonequilibrium effects, the final combustion efficiency increases from 87.68 to 99%, together with a 53.94% rise in peak pressure ratio and a 137.04% rise in specific impulse.