Aerospace 2026, 13(6), 512; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace13060512 (registering DOI) - 30 May 2026
Abstract
Solid fuel ramjets (SFRJs) are air-breathing propulsion systems with a high specific impulse, but their sudden expansion combustors often exhibit axially nonuniform fuel regression because of the distinct recirculation, reattachment, and downstream turbulent diffusion flame regions. However, previous studies have primarily focused on
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Solid fuel ramjets (SFRJs) are air-breathing propulsion systems with a high specific impulse, but their sudden expansion combustors often exhibit axially nonuniform fuel regression because of the distinct recirculation, reattachment, and downstream turbulent diffusion flame regions. However, previous studies have primarily focused on the average regression rate, with limited attention to local combustion characteristics. This study applied a photogrammetry-based three-dimensional shape reconstruction technique to obtain the post-combustion internal port geometry of a sudden-expansion SFRJ combustor burning high-density polyethylene fuel under different chamber pressure and air mass flux conditions. This geometry was employed to determine the axial distributions of the local regression rates. The analysis procedure was validated against the corresponding space–time averaged regression rate obtained from fuel mass loss, showing suitable agreement with relative errors of 1.7–5.7%. The axial distributions consistently exhibited low values in the upstream, increased rapidly in the middle region, and sustained high or gradually decreasing in the downstream. In addition, an empirical expression for the space–time averaged regression rate indicated greater sensitivity to air mass flux than chamber pressure. These results confirm that photogrammetry is an effective tool for resolving the axially nonuniform regression behavior and informing spatial insights beyond the average regression rate alone.
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(This article belongs to the Section Astronautics & Space Science)
