PRELIMINARY PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF THE PULSE-DETONATION-JET ENGINE SYSTEM

The performance analysis of the supersonic pulse-detonation-jet engine system represents some revision of earlier results, including new ideas of scavenging flow. Curves of the drag coefficient of a typical supersonic long- range missile showed that four 36-in.-diam engines have enough reserve power to propel the missile through sonic flight velocities and up to a flight Mach number of 2.80. A unit small enough to be mounted on the blade tip of a helicopter was analyzed. The unit has a maximum diameter of 8.25 in., with combustion tubes 6 in. long and ranging in diameter from 0.60 to 0.25 in. The total weight of 1 unit would be about 35 lb. Combustion would be achieved in the unit by surface contact with the hot walls of the ceramic tubes, and it would proceed radially inward. A unit of this type would produce a thrust of 110 lb at a maximum temperature of 2000 deg F, and would have a specific fuel consumption of 1.65 lb/hr/lb of thrust.