A series of experiments was conducted for studying scramjet nozzles under Mach 8 flight conditions using a high temperature gas flow produced by combustion of monomethyl-hydrazine (MMH) and nitrogen tetroxide (NTO). The stagnation temperature was designed to be 3170K, and the stagnation pressure to be 1MPa. Scramjet nozzles with expansion ratios of 3 (EN3) and 5 (EN5) were examined. Delivered specific impulse (Isp) was found to be 17.3s (EN3) and 26.1s (EN5). Performances of nozzles were predicted using numerical codes, and energy release loss, kinetic loss and two-dimensional loss were identified. The two-dimensional loss was predicted to be 16.5% in the EN3 nozzle and to decrease to 7.0% in the EN5 nozzle. The kinetic loss due to chemical freezing was found to be about 4%. A friction loss evaluated from thrusts suggested laminar flow in the scramjet nozzle with the MMH/NTO experiments. Measured heat flux on nozzles also supported the laminar boundary layer. Experiments using a cold gas flow with the nozzles were also conducted to compare with the hot flow.
