Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to design, develop, and demonstrate a modular, real-time, active control bypass valve for solid fuel ramjets (SFRJ). The coupling of an active bypass valve with a SFRJ will enable an agile propulsion system for the Navy and Department of Defense to engage a variety of ever-changing threats with a single missile platform. PSIs modular bypass valve will allow SFRJ designers to integrate the valve into their system with minimal engineering development work reducing the overall time and cost to develop individual systems. Additionally, the valve incorporates a software designed control mechanism that will allow the valve to adapt to system performance to maintain a desired thrust profile or bypass ratio. In Phase I, PSI will design and develop a bypass valve for air inlet temperatures up to 2, 000F. The bypass valve will be experimentally tested with cold and hot (up to 1, 000F) air. In Phase II, PSI plans to develop a flight-like bypass valve and conduct testing on up to a 5-inch diameter system with air inlet temperatures up to 2, 000F.
Benefit: It is anticipated that the successful development of PSIs modular bypass valve technology will be directly applicable to future DoD munition systems to enable on-demand mission specific thrust profiles utilizing SFRJs. The most prominent candidates for technology insertion are the Tactical High-Speed Offensive Ramjet for Extended Range (THOR-ER) or the Solid Fuel Integral Rocket Ramjet (SFIRR) development programs. On-demand thrust control of SFRJs will enable the DoD to have higher mission performance that can adapt to new threats and challenges while reducing costs during the munition development stage.
Keywords: Solid Propulsion, Solid Propulsion, SFRJ, Thrust Control, Bypass, Active control, Solid Fuel Ramjet
