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Future of Propulsion | |
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There is continuing research into the design of more efficient engines that use less fuel and generate higher thrust per weight. New advances in the study of high temperature materials are allowing the design of turbines that can tolerate even higher inlet temperatures. Advances in aerodynamics calculations and experiments are leading to improvements in the designs of the inlets, compressors and turbines, and the nozzles. And a relatively new area, active control theory, is showing promising results. In an active control system, computer chips monitor the conditions throughout the engine to determine the optimum component behavior for that particular flight. The computer may change the fuel and air ratio in the combustor slightly for a better burn, or it might change the shape of either the inlet or the exit nozzle slightly to improve the aerodynamics. In supersonic and hypersonic engine design, work continues to find better solutions for engines. The challenge here is particularly daunting; the final choices must work across a wide range of flight Mach numbers and conditions. Hybrid configurations that use combinations of the turbojet, ramjet, and rocket engines are the focus of study these days, and many hybrid engines are in the conceptual-design stages. Whether the goal is to improve existing engines for the world's transportation needs, or designing the engines for future supersonic and hypersonic aircraft, there is plenty of room for more engineers and more ideas. There are many challenges out there!
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