Over the northwest, a verification plane sprinted in the explosion, maintaining a superior advantage over the United States. It's a show

Tech 2023-10-07 03:10:33 Source: Network

A flying vehicle resembling the Su-34 skyrocketed from a flight test site in northwest China. Not only was this aircraft suspiciously long, but underneath its belly was a rudimentary engine that would continue to explode and propel the "Su-34" into sprint flight

A flying vehicle resembling the Su-34 skyrocketed from a flight test site in northwest China. Not only was this aircraft suspiciously long, but underneath its belly was a rudimentary engine that would continue to explode and propel the "Su-34" into sprint flight.

(Su-34 on the runway)

This strange experiment marks a breakthrough in the domestic aviation engine, which is the successful maiden flight of the FB-1 detonation engine. It marks the transition from principle research to engineering application, laying a solid foundation for large-scale application in the future.

(The staff are refueling this "Su-34" aircraft, and the method seems to be very convenient)

Knock engine is one of the new concept engines developed by countries and regions in the new century. This type of engine has higher efficiency, lower fuel consumption, simpler structure, lighter weight, and is more suitable for hypersonic flight than existing aviation engines. Therefore, it has good development prospects.

Our common jet engines, such as turbojets and turbofans, belong to isobaric engines, where the pressure remains almost constant during the fuel process. In this way, air needs to be pressurized before entering the combustion chamber. The higher the speed of the compressor that plays the role of boosting, the stronger the aerodynamic load and ablation effect. Therefore, the engine's compressor speed will be limited during operation, ultimately setting an upper limit for the flight speed of aircraft installed with traditional jet engines, which is difficult to exceed four times the speed of sound.

In addition, due to factors such as technical difficulty, manufacturing costs, and logistical support, the speed of modern aircraft is generally set below 2.5 times the speed of sound, and only a few specially designed aircraft can achieve speeds above 2.5 times the speed of sound.

(Mounted the detonation engine under the belly of the "Su-34" aircraft, with key parts marked)

Detonation engine is a new concept of aviation engine. Detonation, as the name suggests, causes fuel to explode in the combustion chamber, not burn. Due to the explosion itself producing high temperatures and pressures, it eliminates the need for a compressor, simplifies the engine structure, and reduces the volume and weight of the engine. Reducing weight and volume is a very advantageous advantage for aircraft.

Explosion also allows the energy of the fuel to be more fully utilized, resulting in higher efficiency and reduced fuel consumption. The international aviation engine industry believes that the fuel efficiency of detonation engines is about 20% higher than that of existing aviation engines, which can be said to have significant effects.

(For the guaranteed engine that has not yet been installed on the flight deck, you can see the exaggerated intake ratio of the nose cone)

Having said so many advantages, there is a reason why detonation engines are classified as new concept aircraft engines, as their design and control are extremely difficult. Since it is necessary to continuously explode fuel in the engine, how to control this energy without damaging the engine itself has become the most challenging problem. Without solving these two problems, a detonation engine is like a liquid fuel bomb. In order to solve this problem, a rotating explosion engine appeared.

The characteristic of this type of engine is that it can work continuously. When fuel and air are mixed, they are ignited in the combustion chamber to form an explosion, and the detonation wave is located at the bottom of the combustion chamber, continuously rotating and propagating in a circumferential direction perpendicular to the fuel injection. Due to the enormous pressure of the detonation wave, fuel can no longer be injected into the combustion chamber in an instant. After the detonation wave passed, the pressure in the combustion chamber decreased, fuel continued to be injected, and then another explosion occurred, repeating the cycle. After the detonation wave rushes out of the combustion chamber, it is discharged at high speed from the nozzle, forming thrust and pushing the aircraft forward.

(Image of FB-1 detonation engine igniting and testing on the ground)

Due to the lack of rotating components in detonation engines, their structure can be considered "rudimentary" compared to existing turbofan engines. As a result, the working range of detonation engines is wider than that of existing aviation engines, making them suitable for hypersonic flight. If combined with other aviation engines to form a more advanced combination engine, it can further expand the flight envelope.

After entering the new century, the United States invested a large amount of manpower and material resources in detonation engines, attempting to occupy this emerging position. From its announced technical achievements, NASA has led the development of a detonation engine that has completed multiple key technical verifications, including the verification of rotational detonation mechanism, ignition tests, and the replacement of the main combustion chamber of aviation turbine engines by rotational detonation. NASA is currently in a leading position in the field of detonation engines, with thrust reaching the 1000 pound threshold, equivalent to approximately 454 kilograms.

(NASA is currently leading the field of detonation engines, reaching the 1000 pound threshold, equivalent to approximately 454 kilograms)

In 2020, the US Air Force awarded three key research and development contracts to major aviation engine manufacturers for rotary detonation engines, requiring the development of practical detonation engines around 2025-2030. There are reports that the United States has started using detonation engines in precision guided weapons such as cruise missiles. Other countries such as Russia, France, and Japan have also carried out research and development work on knock engines, with plans to develop practical knock engines after 2030.

The research work on detonation engines by relevant Chinese units has been carried out not too late and has achieved fruitful results, some of which have also applied for technical patents. The research and development progress of domestically produced detonation engines is publicly announced by the domestic commercial aircraft development company Thrust Weight Ratio Engine Company, and the FB-1 is also the first type of detonation engine independently developed by them.

(Working principle diagram of rotary detonation engine)

The FB-1 has reached the flight testing stage, indicating that the Thrust to Weight ratio company has mastered the research and manufacturing technology of detonation engines, and has the ability to develop small diameter detonation engines. If reliability issues are solved, even subsequent models of FB-1 can be directly applied to missiles or hypersonic drones. Of course, the greater attraction is to develop large detonation engines on this basis for larger aircraft.

According to the data released by the thrust to weight ratio engine company, the detonation engine they have tested has reached a thrust level of 1000 Newton, which is approximately 100 kilograms. If calculated based on a thrust to weight ratio of at least 20% for supersonic aircraft, this can already push the aircraft with a takeoff weight of about 500 kilograms.

(Dynamic diagram of the combined power working principle composed of a detonation engine and a rocket engine)

It is interesting that the flight platform equipped with domestically produced detonation engines is actually similar to the Russian Su-34 fighter bomber. This may be a scaled unmanned flight platform for domestic relevant units to verify the aerodynamic performance of the Su-34. As a combat bomber derived from the Su-27, the Su-34 has many design advantages. When exploring alternative models for the J-7 "Flying Leopard" series of fighter bombers in China, it is not surprising to examine the Su-34 model. However, in the end, the People's Liberation Army chose the J-16 multi-purpose fighter jet instead of continuing to develop specialized fighter bombers.

Using the Su-34 scaled unmanned aerial vehicle platform to verify the detonation engine may only be a coincidence of appropriate size and takeoff weight, and the detonation engine cannot actually be used on the Su-34 scaled unmanned aerial vehicle.

(This Su-34 scaled model aircraft is likely only for secondary use)

The development of modern aviation engines is about to enter a new stage, with various new concept engines emerging one after another. If we can seize this opportunity, study hard, and achieve breakthroughs, then we have the opportunity to overtake on curves, significantly narrowing the gap between us and the aviation engine powerhouse.

Just like in the field of new energy, we were the first to make efforts in electric vehicles, avoiding the barriers created by developed countries in the traditional automotive field, and ultimately achieving overtaking on curves, leading the world in the new energy industry chain. I believe that with the unremitting efforts of domestic aviation engine personnel, we can also achieve curve overtaking in the field of new concept aviation engines. While traditional aviation engines are catching up, we can seize the new peak that Western countries have not yet reached.

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