New York: A new type of engine called a rotary smelter promises to make rockets not only more fuel efficient but also lighter and less complicated to build, say researchers.
For the findings, published in the journal Physical Review E, researchers at the University of Washington have developed a mathematical model that describes how these engines work.
With this information, engineers can, for the first time, develop experiments to improve these engines and make them more sustainable, they said.
“The field of rotary smelting engines is still in its infancy. We have a ton of data about these engines, but we don’t understand what’s going on, I tried to redesign our results by looking at pattern shapes instead of asking an engineering question – – such as how to get the highest performing engine – and then energizing, it turned out that it works, “he said. lead author of the study James Koch from the University of Washington in the USA.
“This firing process is literally an explosion – an explosion – but behind this initial stage, we are seeing a number of forms of sustained firing blows that continue to consume an available stimulant, said Koch.
According to the researchers, this produces high pressure and temperature that drive out the rear of the engine at high speeds, which can generate energy.
To try to be able to describe how these engines work, the researchers first developed an experimental rotary explosive engine where they could control various parameters, such as the size of the gap. between the cylinders.
They then recorded the firing processes with a high-speed camera.
Each test took only 0.5 seconds to complete, but the researchers recorded these tests at 240,000 frames per second so they could see what was happening in slow motion.
From there, the researchers developed a mathematical model to illustrate what they saw in the videos.
“This is the only model in the literature that is currently able to describe the diverse and complex dynamics of these rotary smelting engines that we observe in experiments,” said the co-author of the study. J Nathan Kutz.
The model allowed the researchers to find out for the first time whether an engine of this type would be stable or unstable. It also allowed them to evaluate how well a particular engine was performing.
“This new approach is different from conventional wisdom in the field, and the broad applications and new insights were a complete surprise to me,” said co-author Carl Knowlen, UW’s associate research professor at UW. aeronautics and astronautics.
According to the researchers, at present the model is not very ready for engineers to use.