UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN MEKANIKAL

SZT 4433 AIRCRAFT PROPULSION SYSTEMS

ASSIGNMENT

‘RAMJET ENGINE; CYCLE ANALYSIS

AND APPLICATIONS’

MOHD RAZALI BIN OSMAN

AZ 060243
  Introduction

Ramjet is a unique innovation in aviation industries. Many people

made mistake in understanding this type of engine. Some of them see this
engine as the same with the pulsejet in fact they are significantly different
in their way of operate and the task witch are suitable with them.

A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is

a form of jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress
incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust
at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill.

They are no moving part in a ramjet much like the valveless

pulsejet, but they operate with continuous combustion rather than the
series of explosions that give a pulsejet its characteristic noise.

In order to work efficiently, ramjet requires a considerable forward

direction speed to lunch. This type of engine will work in best way in mach
3 speed but it can operate until mach 6 speed.

Ramjet brings lot of advantages especially in the manufacturing of

intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and rocket. Unfortunately there
are two things that work against the ramjet:

1. Operating Speed
unlike pulsejets and jet-turbine engines, the ramjet will not operate
unless it is moving through the air at a speed of at least 400 mph.

If you attempt to start a ramjet while it's stationary or moving to

slowly then it will give little or no thrust -- in fact you'll just get lazy,
Smokey flames billowing out both the intake and exhaust.

This is because a ramjet relies on heating a fast-moving stream of

cold air as it enters the engine and then expelling that air at a
higher speed out the back. Unless the engine is moving rapidly
through the air there's nothing for the burning fuel to heat.

2. Fuel Consumption
As a general rule of thumb, the fuel-efficiency of an internal
combustion engine is related to the compression ratio at which it
operates. That is to say -- the more the air/fuel mixture is
compressed before it is ignited then the more power you'll get from
a given amount of fuel.
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 Diesel engines have a compression ratio of about 20:1, most car
engines operate at compression ratios as high as 11:1, a pulsejet
runs at a compression ratio of less than 2:1 and ramjets are about
the same at low speeds.

As a result, the ramjet (like the pulsejet) is not a particularly fuel-

efficient engine. What makes it worse is that since the ramjet needs
to be operated at very high speed, it's going to have to burn a lot of
fuel just to overcome the drag it creates at that speed.

 History of ramjet
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 Ramjet was originally invented by a French inventor named René
Lorin in 1913. Unfortunately his attempt to finish up the prototype was
failed due to insufficient materials. Then in 1915, a Hungarian inventor
named René Lorin study about increasing the range of artillery fire. Fonó
submitted his invention to the Austro-Hungarian Army but the proposal
was rejected. After World War I Fonó returned to the subject of jet
propulsion, in May 1928 describing an "air-jet engine" which he described
as being suitable for high-altitude supersonic aircraft, in a German patent
application. In an additional patent application he adapted the engine for
subsonic speed. The patent was finally granted in 1932 after four years of
examination.

Figure 1 Fono's design

Then the innovations of the ramjet begin to move rapidly as the

United States involve in the programmes. The US Navy developed series
air-to-air missiles under the name of "Gorgon" using different propulsion
mechanisms, including ramjet propulsion. The ramjet Gorgon IVs, made by
Glenn Martin, was tested in 1948 and 1949 at Naval Air Station Point
Mugu. The ramjet engine itself was designed at the University of Southern
California and manufactured by the Marquardt Aircraft Company. The
engine was 7 feet long and 20 inches in diameter and was positioned
below the missile.

The eminent Swiss astrophysicist was research director at Aerojet

and holds many patents in jet propulsion. U.S. Patent 5121670 is for the
Ram Accelerator and U.S. Patent 4722261 is the Extendable Ram Cannon.
The U.S. Navy would not allow Fritz Zwicky to publicly discuss his own
invention; U.S. Patent 2,461,797 for the Underwater Jet, a ram jet that
performs in a fluid medium.TIME July 11, 1955 chronicles Fritz Zwicky's

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work in the "Missed Swiss" and the "Underwater Jet" in the March 14,
1949 issue.

In the Soviet Union, a theory of supersonic ramjet engines was

presented in 1928 by Boris S. Stechkin. Yuri Pobedonostsev, chief of
GIRD's 3rd Brigade, carried out a great deal of research into ramjet
engines. The first engine, the GIRD-04, was designed by I.A. Merkulov and
tested in April 1933. To simulate supersonic flight, it was fed by air
compressed to 200 atmospheres, and was fuelled with hydrogen. The
GIRD-08 phosphorus-fuelled ramjet was tested by firing it from artillery
cannon. These shells may have been the first jet powered projectiles to
break the speed of sound.

In 1939, Merkulov did further ramjet tests using a two-stage rocket,

the R-3. In August of that year, he developed the first ramjet engine for
use as an auxiliary motor of an aircraft, the DM-1. The world's first ramjet
powered airplane flight took place in December 1939, using two DM-2
engines on a modified Polikarpov I-15. Merkulov designed a ramjet fighter
"Samolet D" in 1941, which was never completed. Two of his DM-4
engines were installed on the YaK-7PVRD fighter, during World War II. In
1940, the Kostikov-302 experimental plane was designed, powered by
liquid fuel rocket for take-off and ramjet engines for flight. That project
was cancelled in 1944.

In 1947, Mstislav Keldysh proposed a long-range antipodal bomber,

similar to the Sänger-Bredt bomber, but powered by ramjet instead of
rocket. In 1954, NPO Lavochkin and the Keldysh Institute began
development of a trisonic ramjet-powered cruise missile, Burya. This
project competed with the R-7 ICBM being developed by Sergei Korolev,
and was cancelled in 1957.

In Germany, in 1936 Hellmuth Walter constructed a test engine

powered by natural gas. Theoretical work was carried out at BMW and
Junkers as well as the DFL. In 1941 Eugen Sänger of the DFL proposed a
ramjet engine with a very high combustion chamber temperature. He
constructed very large ramjet pipes with 500 millimetres (20 in) and
1,000 millimetres (39 in) diameter and carried out combustion tests on
lorries and on a special test rig on a Dornier Do 17Z at flight speeds of up
to 200 m/s (655 ft/s). Later, with petrol becoming scarce in Germany due
to wartime conditions, tests were carried out with blocks of pressed coal
dust which were not successful due to slow combustion.

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  Basic principle of ramjet

The ram jet engine is composed of three major components: a body

structure, fuel injection system, and a flame stabilization system. In order
to build a good performing engine all three components must be of proper
design because of their close relation and dependence upon each other.

As being explain in previous chapter, a ramjet has no moving parts

and achieves compression of intake air by the forward speed of the air
vehicle. Air entering the intake of a supersonic aircraft is slowed by
aerodynamic diffusion created by the inlet and diffuser to velocities
comparable to those in a turbojet augmenter. The expansion of hot gases
after fuel injection and combustion accelerates the exhaust air to a
velocity higher than that at the inlet and creates positive push.

Figure 2 ramjet engine

Ramjets can be classified according to the type of fuel, liquid or solid; and
the booster.

In a liquid fuel ramjet (LFRJ) hydrocarbon fuel (typically) is injected

into the combustor ahead of a flame holder which stabilises the flame
resulting from the combustion of the fuel with the compressed air from
the intake. A means of pressurising and supplying the fuel to the ram
combustor is required which can be complicated and expensive.
Aerospatiale-Celerg has designed an LFRJ where the fuel is forced into the
injectors by an elastomeric bladder which inflates progressively along the
length of the fuel tank. Initially the bladder forms a close-fitting sheath
around the compressed air bottle from which it is inflated, which is
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mounted lengthwise in the tank.[ This offers a lower cost approach than a
regulated LFRJ requiring a turbo pump and associated hardware to supply
the fuel.

A ramjet generates no static thrust and needs a booster to achieve

a forward velocity high enough for efficient operation of the intake
system. The first ramjet powered missiles used external boosters, usually
solid-propellant rockets, either in tandem, where the booster is mounted
immediately aft of the ramjet, e.g. Sea Dart, or wraparound where
multiple boosters are attached alongside the outside of the ramjet e.g. SA-
4 Ganef. The choice of booster arrangement is usually driven by the size
of the launch platform. A tandem booster increases the overall length of
the system whereas wraparound boosters increase the overall diameter.
Wraparound boosters will usually generate higher drag than a tandem
arrangement.

Integrated boosters provide a more efficient packaging option since the

booster propellant is cast inside the otherwise empty combustor. This
approach has been used on solid, for example SA-6 Gainful, liquid, for
example ASMP, and ducted rocket, for example Meteor, designs.
Integrated designs are complicated by the different nozzle requirements
of the boost and ramjet phases of flight. Due to the higher thrust levels of
the booster a different shaped nozzle is required for optimum thrust
compared to that required for the lower thrust ramjet sustainers. This is
usually achieved via a separate nozzle which is ejected after booster
burnout. However, designs such as Meteor feature nozzleless boosters.
This offers the advantages of elimination of the hazard to launch aircraft
from the ejected boost nozzle debris, simplicity, reliability, and reduced
mass and cost, although this must be traded against the reduction in
performance compared with that provided by a dedicated booster nozzle.

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Ramjet design
4 main parts of the Ramjet component are as follows:

1. Inlet

2. Diffuser

3. Combustor

4. Nozzle

Inlet

Ramjets will push out the very high dynamic pressure within the air
approaching the intake lip. An efficient intake will recover much of the
free stream stagnation pressure, which is used to support the combustion
and expansion process in the nozzle.

Most ramjets operate at supersonic flight speeds and use one or

more conical (or oblique) shock waves, terminated by a strong normal
shock, to slow down the airflow to a subsonic velocity at the exit of the
intake. Further diffusion is then required to get the air velocity down to a
suitable level for the combustor.

Figure 3 inlet action at different airspeed

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 Subsonic ramjets don't need such a sophisticated inlet since the
airflow is already subsonic and a simple hole is usually used. This would
also work at slightly supersonic speeds, but as the air will choke at the
inlet, this is inefficient.

The Inlet is divergent, to provide a constant inlet speed of Mach 0.5.

Diffuser

The amount of thrust or push desired from the ram jet engine at a
given speed determines the size of the diffuser entrance area. The larger
the diffuser entrance area the greater the thrust. The ratio of diffuser
entrance area to diffuser exit area varies from three to four for most
subsonic ram jet designs. The most widely used value being three and
one-half.

The length of the diffuser depends upon the designer's choice of one
of two probable configurations. A hollow cone frustum is the easier of the
two configurations to fabricate but is longer in length than the other
configuration which consists of a hollow cone frustum with a curved insert.
The latter configuration is used in most commercial ram jet designs
because its shorter length offers less drag (resistance to movement
through the atmosphere).

Figure 4 diffuser

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Combustor

The combustion chamber is merely a hollow cylinder with a

diameter equal to that of the diffuser exit diameter. Its length is usually
determined by trial and error. As with other jet engines the combustor's
job is to create hot air. It does this by burning a fuel with the air at
essentially constant pressure. The airflow through the jet engine is usually
quite high, so sheltered combustion zones are produced by using flame
holders that stop the flames from blowing out.

Since there is no downstream turbine, a ramjet combustor can

safely operate at stoichiometric fuel: air ratios, which implies a combustor
exit stagnation temperature of the order of 2400 K for kerosene. Normally
the combustor must be capable of operating over a wide range of throttle
settings, for a range of flight speeds/altitudes. Usually a sheltered pilot
region enables combustion to continue when the vehicle intake undergoes
high yaw/pitch, during turns. Other flame stabilization techniques make
use of flame holders, which vary in design from combustor cans to simple
flat plates, to shelter the flame and improve fuel mixing. Over fuelling the
combustor can cause the normal shock within a supersonic intake system
to be pushed forward beyond the intake lip, resulting in a substantial drop
in engine airflow and net thrust.

Nozzle

The propelling nozzle is a critical part of a ramjet design, since it

accelerates exhaust flow to produce thrust.

For a ramjet operating at a subsonic flight Mach number, exhaust

flow is accelerated through a converging nozzle. For a supersonic flight
Mach number, acceleration is typically achieved via a convergent-
divergent nozzle.

The exit nozzle, which is located downstream from the combustion

chamber, has its entrance diameter equal to the diameter of the
combustion chamber. Nozzle exit diameter is dependent upon combustion
chamber temperature and can be determined mathematically.

Ram accelerator

A ram accelerator is a gun that utilizes ramjet compression to

accelerate a projectile to extremely high speeds. In a normal ramjet, air is
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compressed for combustion between a spike-shaped ram and an outer
casing. In a ram accelerator, a similar shaped ram is fired (often from a
conventional gun) into the accelerator barrel, causing compression
between the projectile and the barrel's walls. The barrel contains a fuel-air
mixture. As the ram compresses the mixture, it is ignited behind it. In a
typical ram accelerator design, thin membranes designed to be easily
punctured by the ram wall off sections of the barrel. Each section is filled
with a different fuel-air mixture chosen so that later sections have higher
speeds of sound. As such, the ram can be maintained at optimal speeds of
mach 3–5 (relative to the mixture that it travels through) during its entire
acceleration period.

The chief advantage of a ram accelerator over a conventional gun is

its scalability. In a normal gun, maximum pressure is exerted at the time
of the initial charge detonation. The gun must be capable of withstanding
the pressure of all of the gas from the reaction, compressed into a small
location. As the projectile moves further down the barrel, the amount of
acceleration upon the projectile decreases, eventually reaching amounts
trivial enough that a longer barrel is no longer justified.

With a ram accelerator, the explosion is at all times maintained

directly behind the projectile. This leads to constant pressure being put
both on the gun and the projectile itself. Consequently, far longer barrels
are possible, while still delivering a strong constant acceleration to the
projectile.

Ram accelerators have been proposed as a cheap method to get

payloads into space. Due to wind resistance, the projectile still may need
to utilize embedded rockets, such as those designed in Project HARP, to
achieve orbit. Its main competitors are rail guns and coil guns.

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  Ramjet engine cycle

On this chapter we discuss the Brayton Thermodynamic Cycle

which is used in ramjets and scramjets. The figure shows a T-s diagram of
the Brayton cycle. Using the turbine engine station numbering system, we
begin with free stream conditions at station 0. In cruising flight, the inlet
slows the air stream to compress it to station 2 conditions. As the flow
slows, some of the energy associated with the aircraft velocity increases
the static pressure of the air and the flow is compressed. Ideally, the
compression is isentropic and the static temperature is also increased as
shown by the dashed lines on the plot. For an ideal, isentropic
compression a vertical line on the T-s diagram describes the process. In
reality, the compression is not isentropic and the compression process line
leans to the right because of the increase in entropy of the flow. The non-
isentropic effects are the result of shock waves in the inlet.

For the ramjet, there is a terminal normal shock in the inlet that
brings the flow to subsonic conditions at the burner. As speed increases,
the losses through this shock eventually decrease the level of pressure
that can be achieved in the burner, and this sets a limit on the use of
ramjets. For supersonic combustion ramjets (scramjets) there is no normal
shock and the inlet shock losses associated with the normal shock are
avoided. The combustion process in the burner occurs at constant
pressure from station 3 to station 5. The temperature increase depends
on the type of fuel used and the fuel-air ratio. For scramjets, there may be
additional entropy losses associated with the mixing of the fuel and the
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air. Following combustion, the hot exhaust is then passed through the
nozzle. Ideally, the nozzle brings the flow isentropically back to free
stream pressure from station 5 to station 8. Since ramjets and scramjets
often use converging-diverging nozzle designs, there is often a mismatch
between the external flow pressure and the free stream. The area under
the T-s diagram is proportional to the useful work and thrust generated by
the engine.

Figure 5 T-s diagram that shows the cycle

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Previously we have studied the engine by using the T-s diagram. Here is
the simple consequences/process of ramjet engine cycle referring to the
P-v diagram.

Figure 6 P-v diagram that shows the cycle

• a - b Adiabatic, quasi-static (or reversible) compression in the inlet

and compressor;

• b - c Constant pressure fuel combustion (idealized as constant

pressure heat addition);

• c - d Adiabatic, quasi-static (or reversible) expansion in the turbine

and exhaust nozzle, with which we

1. take some work out of the air and use it to drive the
compressor, and

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 2. take the remaining work out and use it to accelerate fluid for
jet propulsion, or to turn a generator for electrical power
generation;

• d - a Cool the air at constant pressure back to its initial condition.

In practice, real Brayton cycles take one of two forms. Figure 3 shows an
``open'' cycle, where the working fluid enters and then exits the device.
This is the way a jet propulsion cycle works. Figure 4 shows the
alternative, a closed cycle, which recirculates the working fluid. Closed
cycles are used, for example, in space power generation.

Figure 7 open-cycle

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 Figure 8 closed-cycle

 Work and efficiency

The objective now is to find the work done, the heat absorbed, and the
thermal efficiency of the cycle. Tracing the path shown around the cycle
from - - - and back to , the first law gives (writing the equation in
terms of a unit mass),

Here is zero because is a function of state, and any cycle returns the
system to its starting state. The net work done is therefore

Where q1, q2 are defined as heat received by the system (q1 is negative).
We thus need to evaluate the heat transferred in processes - and - .

For a constant pressure, quasi-static process the heat exchange per unit
mass is

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We can see this by writing the first law in terms of enthalpy or by
remembering the definition of cp.

The heat exchange can be expressed in terms of enthalpy differences

between the relevant states. Treating the working fluid as a perfect gas
with constant specific heats, for the heat addition from the combustor,

The heat rejected is, similarly,

The net work per unit mass is given by

The thermal efficiency of the Brayton cycle can now be expressed in

terms of the temperatures:

(1)

To proceed further, we need to examine the relationships between the

different temperatures. We know that points and are on a constant
pressure process as are points b and c, and Pa=Pd Pb=Pc. The other two
legs of the cycle are adiabatic and reversible, so

Therefore Td/Tc = Ta/Tb, or, finally, Td/Ta = Tc/Tb. Using this relation in the
expression for thermal efficiency, Eq. (1) yields an expression for the
thermal efficiency of a Brayton cycle:

(2)

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The temperature ratio across the compressor, Tb/Ta = TR. In terms of
compressor temperature ratio, and using the relation for an adiabatic
reversible process we can write the efficiency in terms of the compressor
(and cycle) pressure ratio, which is the parameter commonly used:

The ramjet thermodynamic cycle efficiency can be written in terms of flight Mach number,
M0, as follows:

and

so

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  Application

Missile

They are found almost exclusively in missiles, where they are boosted to
operating speeds by a rocket engine, or by being attached to another
aircraft (typically a fighter).Ramjet propulsion is used in the British
Bloodhound (no longer in service) and Sea Dart surface-to-air missiles.

The Bomarc missile in the U.S. used two body pylons underneath the
wings each housing a Marquardt ramjet engine capable of producing
10,000 pounds of thrust in the A version and 14,000 pounds thrust in the
B version. The Bomarc served as part of the North American Defense
System between 1959 and 1972.

A number of missile projects currently under development use ramjet

engines to achieve better fuel efficiency (and thus longer range) at
supersonic speeds than a rocket-driven approach. These include the
British MBDA Meteor air-to-air missile and the Russian-Indian BrahMos
supersonic cruise missile.

Here is the list of current missile that inspired by the ramjet technology:

• Air to air missiles

o MBDA Meteor (development)
o Vympel RVV-AE-PD R77M (AA12 Adder, development)
o Kentron ?

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 • Air to surface missiles
o EADS/AMM
 ASMP
 ASMP-A (development)
o Radouga Kh41 Moskit
o Zvezda Kh31P (AS17 Krypton)

• Antiship missiles
o Machinostroenie 3K55 Yakhont (SSN26)
o Radouga 3M80/82 Moskit (SSN22 Sunburn)
o CPMEC C301 (coast to ship)
o Hsiung Feng 3

• Surface to air missiles

o MBDA
 Bloodhound Mk2
 Sea Dart

Aircraft
A variant of the pure ramjet is the 'combined cycle' engine, intended to
overcome the limitations of the pure ramjet. An example of this is the Air
Turbo Ramjet (ATR) which operates as a conventional turbojet at subsonic
speeds and a fan assisted ramjet at speeds below Mach 6.

The ATREX engine developed in Japan is an experimental implementation

of this concept. It uses liquid hydrogen fuel in a fairly exotic single-fan
arrangement. The liquid hydrogen fuel is pumped through a heat
exchanger in the air-intake, simultaneously heating the liquid hydrogen,
and cooling the incoming air. This cooling of the incoming air is critical in
achieving a reasonable efficiency. The hydrogen then continues through a
second heat exchanger positions after the combustion section, where the
hot exhaust is used to further heat the hydrogen, turning it in a very high
pressure gas. This gas is then passed through the tips of the fan providing
driving power to the fan at sub-sonic speeds. After mixing with the air, it's
then combusted in the combustion chamber.

Ramjets always slow the incoming air to subsonic speeds. Scramjets, or

"supersonic combustion ramjet" are similar to Ramjets in that they rely on
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the ram effect for compression, but the air goes through the entire jet at
supersonic speeds.

There are several aircraft that using the ramjet as its engine, there are:

• Boeing X-43

• D-21 Tagboard

• Lockheed X-7

Boeng X-43

The aircraft was created to develop and test an exotic type of

engine called a supersonic-combustion ramjet, or "scramjet," an engine
variation where external combustion takes place within air that is flowing
at supersonic speeds. The X-43A's developers designed the aircraft's
airframe to positively affect propulsion, just as it affects aerodynamics: in
this design, the front body is a part of the intake airflow, while the aft
section functions as a nozzle.

The engine of the X-43A was primarily fuelled with hydrogen. In the
successful test, about two pounds (or roughly one kilogram) of the fuel
was used. However, because hydrogen poses certain difficulties in
storage, transport, and even production, further X-43 versions were
planned to use more commonly available hydrocarbon fuels instead.
Unlike rockets, scramjet-powered vehicles do not carry oxygen onboard
for fuelling the engine. Removing the need to carry oxygen significantly
reduces the vehicle's size and weight. In the future, such lighter vehicles
could bring heavier payloads into space or carry payloads of the same
weight much more efficiently.

Scramjets only operate at hypersonic speeds in the range of Mach 6

or higher, so rockets or other jet engines are required to initially boost
scramjet-powered aircraft to this base velocity. In the case of the X-43A,
the aircraft was accelerated to high speed with a Pegasus rocket launched
from a converted B-52 Stratofortress bomber. The combined X-

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43A/Pegasus vehicle was referred to as the "stack" by the program's team
members.

The engines in the X-43A test vehicles were specifically designed for
a certain speed range, only able to compress and ignite the fuel-air
mixture when the incoming airflow is moving as expected. The first two X-
43A aircraft were intended for flight at approximately Mach 7, while the
third was to fly at approximately Mach 10.

The X-43A's successful second flight made it the fastest free flying
air-breathing aircraft in the world, though it was preceded by an
Australian HyShot as the first operating scramjet engine flight. While still
attached to its launching missile, the HyShot flew in descending powered
flight in 2002.

Figure 9 Boeing X-43

D-21 Tagboard

The Q-12 design was finalized in October 1963. An air-launched

vehicle, it was powered by a single Marquardt RJ43-MA-11 ramjet, and
used key technology from the A-12 project, including titanium
construction. Its double-delta wing was similar to the A-12's outer wing
design.

Figure 10 D-21 Tagboat

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Lockheed X-7

The Lockheed X-7 (dubbed the "Flying Stove Pipe") was an unmanned
test bed for ramjet engines and missile guidance technology. It was
carried aloft by a B-29 or B-50 Superfortress carrier aircraft. The booster
ignited after launch and propelled the vehicle to a speed of 1,000 mph
(1,625 km/h). The booster was then jettisoned, and the under slung ramjet
took over from that point. The X-7 eventually returned to Earth, its
descent slowed by parachute. A maximum speed of 2,000 mph (3,250
km/h) was attained, setting a record for fastest air-breathing aircraft. A
total of 130 X-7 flights were conducted from April 1951 to July 1960.

Besides this type of engine was also invented to bring up craft to

space.The objective of another scramjet initiative, the National Aerospace
Plane program, was the development of two X-30 aircraft capable of
single stage-to-orbit (SSTO) flight as well as horizontal takeoff and landing
from conventional runways. The aircraft was to be hydrogen fuelled and
powered by air breathing engines from takeoff to orbital velocities of
approximately Mach 25. A sophisticated "low-speed accelerator system"
was to power the vehicle up to a flight speed of approximately Mach 3, at
which point the primary ramjet/scramjet engines took over to power the
vehicle up to high hypersonic flight speeds. A rocket was to be available
to provide the final thrust increment required for orbital insertion and for
the re-entry burn. Upon completion of a mission, the airplane-like qualities
of the X-30 were to enable the vehicle to be powered on approach and,
upon landing, be capable of rapid turnaround.

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Some Unconventional Applications of Ramjet
• Ramjet propelled rotor

• Integrated ramjet in wing

• RAMAC (RAM ACcelerator) : launching of a small mass at a very high

speed from a tube (NASA, NLR, ISL)

• Ramjet propelled shell

• Nuclear ramjet : PLUTO US program (nuclear reactor TORY II C),

cancelled in 1965 ; concept revisited in the USA ?

• MHD ramjet : AJAX/NEVA project (Leninetz)

o a fascinating concept, but beyond the present technical

possibilities

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  References
Books and journals

Ramjet, Scramjet and PDE an introduction; Paul Kuentzmann et Francois Flenpin

Rocket Propulsion elements- seventh edition

Websites

1. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/rampart.html

2. https://www.aiaa.org

3. https://www.sciencedirect.com

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