Energy addition method for the electrothermal Ramjet

The electrothermal ramjet is a ramjet-in-tube device that has been proposed for accelerating masses to high speeds for applications such as direct spa ce launch and hypersonic projectile studies. The electrothermal ramjet is s imilar to the ram accelerator, though one difference is that heat is to be added to the propellant electrically rather than via combustion. This artic le presents a method for adding heat to the propellant in the electrotherma l ramjet configuration via magnetically balanced traveling are discharges. Calculations indicate that current and magnetic field requirements for this method are within attainable ranges and that electrical heat addition shou ld provide advantages over combustion heat release under certain conditions . (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.