A conceptual design tool for RBCC engine performance analysis

Future reusable launch vehicles will depend on new propulsion technologies to lower system operational costs while maintaining adequate performance. Recently, a number of vehicle systems utilizing rocket-based combined-cycle (RBCC) propulsion have been proposed as possible low-cost space launch solutions. Vehicles using RBCC propulsion have the potential to combine the best aspects of airbreathing propulsion (high average Isp) with the best aspects of rocket propulsion (high propellant bulk density and engine T/W). Proper conceptual assessment of each proposed vehicle will require computer-based tools that allow for quick and cheap, yet sufficiently accurate disciplinary analyses. At Georgia Tech, a spreadsheet-based tool has been developed that uses quasi-1D flow analysis with component efficiencies to parametrically model RBCC engine performance in ejector, fan-ramjet, ramjet and pure rocket modes. The technique is similar to an earlier RBCC modeling technique developed by the Marquardt Corporation in the mid-1960's. For a given sea-level static thrust requirement, the current tool generates engine weight and size data, as well as Isp and thrust data vs. altitude and Mach number. The latter is output in tabular form for use in a trajectory optimization program. This paper reviews the current state of the RBCC analysis tool and the effort to upgrade it from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to a design-oriented UNIX program in C suitable for integration into a multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) framework.