HYPERSONIC PROPULSION SYSTEMS – A REVIEW OF DESIGN SOLUTIONS

Abstract

Abstract: The development of space rocket technology in the mid-twentieth century intensified research in the field of engineering materials used both for rockets and protection of space vehicles against damage, e.g., by meteorites. This development, in turn, forced the development of laboratory propulsion systems with hypersonic velocities, enabling the study and modelling of phenomena occurring at high impact velocities. Currently, to accelerate projectiles to hypersonic velocities, launching systems are applied that use the energy of the explosion of explosives or the combustion of liquid fuels, plasma, the energy of the electromagnetic field or light gases expanding. The work presents a review of the design solutions of various accelerators that enable the projectile to reach muzzle velocities above 3000 m/s. Particular attention has been paid to two-stage gas system, which uses light gases such as hydrogen and helium. The paper also presents the history and design of the first, and so far the only, Polish two-stage light gas gun developed at the Military University of Technology, with the help of which in 1973 a projectile weighing 0.5 g was fired at a speed of 4500 m/s. The paper ends with a description of the two-stage propellant system currently under construction at the Institute of Armament Technology, Faculty of Mechatronics, Armaments and Aviation, the Military University of Technology - with the considerable help of the HSW S.A. company from Stalowa Wola.