China is changing the rules of hypersonic flights by resuscitating the so -called “impossible engine”which was created in the 50s of the last century and what was abandoned by the United States. Now, scientists from the Asian giant have successfully tested an oblique detonation motor chamber that simulates flight conditions to Mach 8 (it is better understood if it is remembered that Mach 1 is the speed of sound) and an altitude of 30 kilometers. “It could reach 16 times the speed of sound” when the tests are at full performance ,.
It has been a team of researchers from the Chinese Launch Technology Academy (CALT) who has managed to advance in the oblique detonation engine (ODE). The concept, which until now seemed Science fictionhe contemplates A propulsion system without moving parts by coupling shock waves with combustion. This “impossible engine” was designed by American scientists in 1958 and abandoned decades later due to its extreme technical complexity.
The CALT experiment managed to turn on and maintain stable detonation waves for more than two secondswhich “demonstrates the viability concept technique for military use, “says the media, which cites Yang Yang, first author of the article presented by the investigation, published this month in the .
In 1978, NASA scientists They theorized that this concept could allow a sustained hypersonic flight at Mach 6 to 16 speeds, but the idea faced skepticism due to extreme technical obstacles.
In December last year, a team led by the Academy of Sciences of China achieved A 50 millisecond detonation in a wind tunnel to Mach 9. The experiment was treated at that time by the scientific community as a Laboratory curiositygiven the ultrabaja duration of the detonation. Now, the CALT test –40 times longer and with visible and stabilized detonation waves – dissipates all doubts, the .
“Within the combustion chamber of the experimental engine, a central fuel injector with four 0.3 mm in diameter sprinkled conventional aviation fuel (RP-3 paraffin) in A supersonic air current. A 20 -degree wedge with a pair of 2 mm orejets caused the detonation, “the publication details.
Despite this progress, the study authors recognize Some critical limitations. For example, fuel only 39% of the flow channel penetrated 90 mm high, leaving the poor outer regions in fuel, while the pressure fluctuations in the exhaust The stability of the waves intermittently disturbed. The team has raised some solutionshow to expand the length of fuel and air mixture channels and redesign the injector.
Although they can still happen Some years Before Ode can take us from Madrid to Beijing in just a couple of hours, technology could find Initial use in some military applications. An ODE assess It would be a critical threshold to convince the military to apply technology to arms systems.
The Chinese army too, says ZAP, You are interested in using the new propulsion technology in intelligent projectiles for next -generation artilleryso that they can achieve objectives at a distance much greater than the projectiles not propelled.
