Development Study on Expander Cycle Air Turbo-Ramjet with Intake Air Cooler for Space Plane

The present paper addresses the development study of expander cycle Air Turbo-Ramjet (ATR) conducting in the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) in cooperation with Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., LTD(IHI).

The analytical study on the various cycle derivatives of ATR engine applying for a space plane has been presented in IAF congress held in Brighton 1987. Of which we selected the expander cycle ATR with intake air cooler and made the long-term research plan to assess its feasibility. The development study is going to be implemented by three steps of verification test, (1) sea level static test, (2) hypersonic simulation test with wind tunnel and (3) actual flight test with a flying test bed. We are now in the first step which was initiated in 1988 and will be accomplished in 1991.

In this paper are presented the system design of the expander cycle ATR engine named ATREX, the scenario of development study and the ATREX engine configuration for sea level static test being in progress.

The ATREX engine proposed by ISAS and IHI is characterized by the hydrogen fueled expander cycle with an intake air cooler and a heat exchanger in combustion chamber and the tip turbine driven configuration.