Influence of the vortex generator on the performance of solid rocket scramjet combustor

Abstract In this paper, the influence of vortex generator on the performance of solid scramjet was investigated by means of direct-connected fire tests. The experiments simulated a flight Mach number 5.5 at 23 km. Hydrocarbon fuel was used as the fuel-rich solid propellant. The experimental results show that compared with the benchmark configuration, where no vortex generator was employed, the configurations with vortex generator can promote significantly the ignition and stable combustion of the primary fuel-rich mixture produced in the gas generator. The combustion efficiency of the test no.3 (with a strut) in the supersonic combustor reaches 0.60, while it is only 0.11 in the benchmark test. The vortex generators (ramp or strut) can promote the ignition of the primary fuel-rich mixture and therefore decrease significantly the ignition delay time in the supersonic combustor. And the ignition delay time in the test no.3 (a strut) is shorter than that of in test no.2 (a ramp). In summary, the vortex generators in these experiments play an important role in ignition, and flame stabilization of the fuel-rich mixture in the supersonic combustor of the solid rocket scramjet.