Research on thermal throat of RBCC based on heat distribution

In order to understand the mechanism and rule of thermal throat in ramjet mode more clearly, three-dimensional numerical simulation has been carried out to study the influence factors on heat distribution in the flowpath of RBCC combustor, such as the position of fuel injection and cavity, the equivalence ratio of fuel, the flow rate of rocket, etc. The effects of different heat distribution on thermal throat were analyzed. The results show that heat distribution has a greater impact on the position of thermal throat compared with the amount of heat release under the premise of enough heat to form thermal throat. The methods like improving mixing and equivalence ratio of fuel to increase the amount of heat release will react with about 30%~50% longer main exothermic region in which the thermal throat can not be generated. Therefore the application of these methods has limited influence on controlling the position of thermal throat. The location of thermal throat can be adjusted more effectively in a wide range by changing the flow rate of rocket which is easier to implement especially for the RBCC combustor. The adjusting range can reach 24% of the combustor length.