吸气式电推进系统进气道性能数值研究与可行性分析

doi:10.7527/S1000-6893.2024.31569

Abstract

Abstract:

To achieve a wide-range design for the inlet of the atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system operating in the upper atmosphere， a comprehensive numerical analysis is performed to investigate gas flows inside the inlet using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method. The effects of inlet geometry and Gas-Surface Interaction （GSI） model on flow features and compression and collection performances are considered， and the underlying physical mechanism is interpreted based on the gas kinetic theory.Results show that when the GSI is completely diffuse reflection， the converging effect induced by the concave inlet leads to a larger gas pressure and mass flux and a high-pressure region closest to the ionization section， while the diverging effect caused by the convex inlet results in a smaller gas pressure and mass flux and a high-pressure region far from the ionization section. When the GSI accommodation coefficient σ=0.5， both the gas pressure and mass flux achieve their local peak values at some locations in the ionization section. The underlying mechanism behind the phenomena is that after reflecting in a specular manner from the concave surface similar to a paraboloid， gas molecules congregate at the focus and enter the ionization section. The drop of GSI accommodation coefficient from 1 to 0.5 brings about a considerable increase in the compression factor and collection efficiency， achieving a rate of increase of 85%-125% and 55%-77%， respectively. For the cases of completely and partially diffuse reflections， the concave inlet has the best compression and collection performances. It can be assumed that with reasonable ionization efficiency and exhaust velocity， the concave inlet with a GSI accommodation coefficient of 0.5 can produce a thrust larger than atmospheric drag at the altitude of 180 km. Therefore， this inlet design is feasible in concept.

Key words: upper atmosphere, air-breathing electric propulsion, inlet design, gas-surface interaction, gas compression and collection

CLC Number:

V411.3

Penghui SU, Yihao LIU, Xuhong JIN, Xiaoli CHENG. Numerical investigation of inlet performance of an atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system and its feasibility analysis[J]. Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica, 2025, 46(16): 131569.

Figures/Tables 20

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References 34

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H/km	摩尔比例			n_∞/m^-3	T_∞/K
H/km	N₂	O₂	O	n_∞/m^-3	T_∞/K
180	0.483	0.035	0.482	1.40×10¹⁶	790.07

进气道	平均压缩比			收集效率
进气道	绝对值	相对变化率/ %	绝对值/ %	相对变化率/ %
斜面型	71.776		44.23
内凸型	68.493	-4.57	41.23	-6.79
内凹型	72.812	1.44	44.75	1.16

进气道	平均压缩比			收集效率
进气道	绝对值	相对变化率/ %	绝对值/ %	相对变化率/ %
斜面型	148.827		73.53
内凸型	127.469	-14.35	63.80	-13.23
内凹型	163.737	10.02	78.38	6.60

进气道	斜面型	内凸型	内凹型
压缩比相对变化率/%	85.82	86.10	124.88
收集效率相对变化率/%	76.66	54.73	75.16

Numerical investigation of inlet performance of an atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system and its feasibility analysis

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[1]	Xuhong JIN, Fei HUANG, Jun ZHANG, Xuede WANG, Xiaoli CHENG, Qing SHEN. Spacecraft in upper atmosphere: Research development and aerodynamic challenges [J]. Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica, 2024, 45(22): 30254-030254.
[2]	Junhong LI, Fei HUANG, Xuhong JIN, Wenbo MIAO, Xiaoli CHENG. Aerodynamic layout optimization design of upper atmosphere aircraft [J]. Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica, 2024, 45(22): 130164-130164.
[3]	Jun ZHANG, Yifan JIANG, Song CHEN, Shuaihui LI. Overview of aerodynamic drag calculation and reduction design for very low Earth orbit satellites [J]. Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica, 2024, 45(21): 29796-029796.
[4]	XIE Xiaole, LI Jiyuan, WANG Xian, LU Haifeng, HAN Xianwei. Influence of air-intake structure in air-breathing electric propulsion system on intake performance [J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2022, 43(3): 125272-125272.
[5]	JIN Xuhong, HUANG Fei, CHENG Xiaoli, SU Penghui. Effect of Maxwell gas-surface interaction models on flow characteristics and thermodynamic properties of rarefied hypersonic cavity flows [J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2021, 42(3): 124118-124118.
[6]	Li Bo;Liang Dewang. Numerical Simulation and Experiment of Integral Flow Fieldof Diverterless Supersonic Inlet/Forebody [J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2009, 30(9): 1597-1604.