Some Aspects on Hydrocarbon-fueled RBCC Engines for a TSTO Launch Vehicle

Abstract

Engine system analysis upon a Rocket-Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) engine for the booster stage of a TSTO launch vehicle was conducted, to evaluate the effects of hydrocarbon fuel type upon the performance of the engine and the whole launch vehicle. A higher thrust and cooling performance with methane was shown, while some technical challenges were also noted. Combination of the scramjet flow pass and the rocket engines, i.e., rocket engine being embedded into the scramjet flow pass or separately mounted to the airframe, was varied to show that the separated configuration mitigated cooling problem, and resulted in a better performance for mid-speed regime.