Chapter 1283 The breadth of research by the academician research team

Chapter 1283 The breadth of research by the academician research team

Using solid rockets to propel a hypersonic vehicle to a threshold speed, and then starting the scramjet engine to maintain speed or continue accelerating, is the simplest and most intuitive technical strategy in design.

However, this places high demands on the performance and stability of the booster itself.

On the one hand, the scramjet engine, which serves as the main power source, needs to be at a speed of about Mach 5.5 to start working normally, and is quite sensitive to the speed and intake parameters during the startup process. In addition, the solid rocket engine cannot stop propulsion midway, so a very precise level of energy management is required, and the problem cannot be solved by simply using great force to create miracles.

On the other hand, an air-breathing hypersonic missile is essentially equivalent to a cruise missile. For the sake of tactical flexibility, it needs to be mounted on a general tactical aircraft or installed in the vertical launch system of a warship. Therefore, its power system must not only ensure sufficient propulsion performance, but also have relatively strict volume and weight restrictions.

It is impossible to directly connect the entire ballistic missile as a booster at the back like the verification missile.

Now that there is a problem with the solid rocket engine, which is of paramount importance, it is naturally not a trivial matter.

For a moment, almost everyone in the conference room focused their attention on Lin Chenggang.

The main product of the Third Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation is a series of anti-ship missiles equipped by the Chinese Navy, and it also engages in some arms export business.

Although the benefits are quite good and it is a type of business that makes a lot of money quietly, conventional anti-ship missiles are not really a popular science after entering the 21st century.

Therefore, before being selected to participate in the hypersonic weapons project, although Lin Chenggang had served as a power system designer for two models, he had never seen any big battles and was considered the youngest member in this conference room.

Except Chang Haonan.

Now that I'm suddenly being stared at by a group of big guys and seniors, I can't help but feel a little nervous.

After secretly swallowing his saliva, he explained:

"When the entire Gaochao project just started, General Manager Chang sent our institute a general requirement for the parameters of rocket boosters... To be honest, it was quite demanding, so we planned to add some high-energy oxidizer to the composite propellant to improve the performance of the propellant."

"But whether it is the long tail tube engine or the wing column charge engine, a certain degree of unstable combustion phenomenon has appeared after replacing the new propellant. Therefore, in order to ensure the success rate of the scramjet engine startup, it is necessary to delay the time when the gas pressure fluctuates and ensure that the missile breaks through the 5.5 Mach speed wall before this time point, and then directly abandon the booster stage..."

"..."

After actually starting to introduce the situation, Lin Chenggang quickly got into the groove. He explained the background of the problem in just a few words, then changed the subject and got to the point:

"Around the middle of last year, we found a series of new studies that explained the combustion characteristics and mechanism of aluminum particles in aluminum-containing solid propellant metal fuels, so we put some effort in this direction... The preliminary research was relatively smooth, and we quickly collected combustion images of the microscopic area in the combustion chamber through optical photography, and figured out the combustion process and chemical reaction characteristics of the AP/HTPB/Al composite propellant system."

"But in July this year, we began to try to install several optimized ratios that we had tested before into the engine for test runs. We found that the performance was indeed improved to a certain extent. However, no matter how we adjusted it, the test results did not match the design indicators, and the regularity of the data was very poor... If we use the parameter fitting method, we can forcibly obtain a relationship, but it is definitely not a reliable design method..."

"It is basically certain that this technical route is feasible, but if we cannot find a reliable design method, we can only return to the traditional path and find parameters that meet the requirements of our project through a large number of experiments. I am afraid that the time will be too long..."

Having said that, he looked up at Chang Haonan with a guilty conscience and sighed distressedly:

"To be honest, I have never worked with a solid rocket engine that has such precise specifications. I cannot give you a specific timetable, but I estimate it will take about 4-5 years..."

In fact, for a brand new engine model with a leap in performance, a 4-5 year development cycle is not long at all.

If it was within the Third Hospital before, this efficiency might even win a group-level technological progress award.

But now, seeing that other colleagues are making rapid progress and giving incredible R&D cycles, how can he have the nerve to drag down the overall progress of the project because of his personal reasons?

Compared to Lin Chenggang himself, Chang Haonan, who had now returned to the main seat at the conference table, had a normal expression on his face.

Of course, he also felt that 4-5 years was a bit too long, but this was obviously not a problem with Lin Chenggang's work attitude. As the person in charge of the overall situation, he absolutely could not add extra pressure to the other party at this time.

"It's right to be careful...it's better to check beforehand than to rework afterwards."

Chang Haonan casually said a slogan that he had remembered from his previous life until now:

"In addition, several people in my research group are also paying attention to the metal morphology and oxidation reaction. Please send me a copy of the important relevant materials later..."

Lin Cheng was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded:

"it is good……"

If Chang Haonan hadn't mentioned the research group, he would have almost forgotten that the other party still held the title of professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

As for why an aviation professor would study metal materials and chemical reactions...

Well, it’s no surprise that the research scope of the research team of a dual academician is so outrageous.

Afterwards, considering the energy issues of the veteran comrades, Chang Haonan announced a recess.

But his worries were obviously unnecessary.

Because just after he finished speaking, a discussion broke out in the conference room.

Although other people in the project are not specifically responsible for the research and development of solid rocket engines, they all come from similar systems and are experienced senior technicians. How could they not understand it at all?

Even several neighboring institutes have their own solid rocket propulsion research departments, but because of their different specializations, they have not been assigned relevant tasks.

"By the way, Researcher Lin, where did you do the series of research you just mentioned? Were you fooled by the paper?"

Chen Zhiwei, who was from the Sixth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology and had played an important role in the missile verification project, came up to Lin Chenggang.

Although they are all engaged in rocket propulsion, the differences between different propellants can be said to be as great as the difference between different fields, so they usually don't pay much attention to the situation of solid propellants.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Lin Chenggang was still immersed in his own thoughts at this time. He only reacted after hearing the voice from the side. However, he just nodded and before he could say anything, he was beaten to the punch by another representative on the opposite side.

Hong Xiaoyi also comes from the Sixth Academy, but it’s the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

In fact, when it comes to solid rocket engines, they are the oldest, strongest and most experienced unit. However, almost all of their strength is currently focused on the power research and development of several types of ballistic missiles, so they have to hand it over to their brother units to take the lead.

However, as the deputy chief engineer of the 41st Institute, Hong Xiaoyi's abilities are absolutely beyond reproach.

“This shouldn’t happen…”

He took over Chen Zhiwei's question and said:

"We have also noticed the research that Lao Lin just mentioned. It was done by a research group at MIT. From last year to the first half of this year, they have published several top journals on materials and energy power... And you heard him say it lightly, as if he just borrowed the results of others, but in fact these papers are all basic theoretical research. To transform them into application level in such a short time, it must have taken a lot of effort."

Lin Chenggang, who had come to his senses, was inevitably a little embarrassed when he heard such straightforward flattery, but he still nodded, indicating that Hong Xiaoyi was right:

"The main reason is that we have done preliminary research and demonstration, and it is basically consistent with the theoretical model they proposed, so at least there will be no problem with the macroscopic combustion characteristics. As for the microscopic mechanism... I can only say that there is a lot of controversy in this area, and it is generally something that theoretical chemistry will touch on..."

He let out a long sigh, leaned back, and buried his upper body in the back of the seat:

"In general, we tend to believe that after the solid propellant is loaded into the combustion chamber in the form of grains, it is affected by some currently unknown characteristics, which causes the combustion characteristics to change significantly compared to the outside..."

"..."

The three of them were just chatting during the break. Moreover, although they were from a brother unit, they all had their own unique skills and secrets, so the topic soon came to an end.

But Chang Haonan was suddenly enlightened by what Hong Xiaoyi had just said -

"Researcher Lin."

He interrupted the conversation between the three people and said:

"When you send the materials later, remember to give me those original papers as well."

"I think there might be something wrong with their research process..."