Unsteady Supersonic Combustion

This book describes the unsteady phenomena needed to understand supersonic combustion. Following an initial chapter that introduces readers to the basic concepts in and classical studies on unsteady supersonic combustion, the book highlights recent studies on unsteady phenomena, which offer insights on e.g. interactions between acoustic waves and flames, flow dominating instability, ignition instability, flame flashback, and near-blowout-limit combustion. In turn, the book discusses in detail the fundamental mechanisms of these phenomena, and puts forward practical suggestions for future scramjet design.

Prof. Mingbo Sun is the Director of Science and Technology on Scramjet Laboratory at National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) in China. He was awarded a Doctorate in Aerospace Science and Technology from NUDT (2008) and a bachelor’s degree in Aerodynamic Engineering from NUDT (2002). His Ph.D. thesis entitled “Studies on Flow Patterns and Flameholding Mechanisms of Cavity Flameholders in Supersonic Flows” was rated as outstanding doctoral dissertation. He started his research career as a Lecturer at NUDT from 2008 and was promoted to a Professor in Science and Technology on Scramjet Laboratory in 2014. He has been working on experimental and numerical studies of the supersonic flow/combustion in scramjet engines in the past 15 years. He was awarded the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars for his outstanding research in supersonic combustion. He authored over 100 SCI-indexed journal papers and 16 patents.

Dr. Hongbo Wang is an Associate Professor at National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) in China. He was awarded a Doctorate in Aerospace Science and Technology from NUDT (2012), Master of Science degree in Aerospace Science and Technology from NUDT (2007) and a bachelor’s degree in Aerodynamic Engineering from NUDT (2005). He used to be a visiting Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Sheffield (UK) from 2009 to 2010. His Ph.D. thesis entitled “Combustion Modes and Oscillation Mechanisms of Cavity-Stabilized Jet Combustion in Supersonic Flows” was rated as outstanding doctoral dissertation. He started his Hypersonic Propulsion Technology research career working as a Lecturer at NUDT from 2012. He conducted research in the areas of scramjet combustor design, supersonic combustion and computational fluid/combustion dynamics. He authored over 50 publications in journals and several patents.

Dr. Zun Cai is a Lecturer at National University of Defense Technology in China. He was awarded a Doctorate in Aerospace Science and Technology from NUDT (2018), Master of Science degree in Aerospace Science and Technology from NUDT (2014) and a bachelor’s degree in Aerodynamic Engineering from NUDT (2012). He used to be a visiting Ph.D. student in Computational Fluid Dynamics at the University of Lund (Sweden) from 2015 to 2016, during which he developed a supersonic combustion solver based on the OpenFOAM. His Ph.D. thesis entitled “Investigation on the Flame Ignition and Stabilization Processes in a Cavity-based Scramjet Combustor with a Rear-wall-expansion Geometry” was rated as outstanding doctoral dissertation. He started his Hypersonic Propulsion Technology research career working as a Lecturer at NUDT from 2018 and conducted research in the areas of scramjet combustor design, supersonic combustion and RBCC propulsion issues. He authored over 20 publications in journals and several patents.

Dr. Jiajian Zhu is an Associate Professor at National University of Defense technology (NUDT) in China. He was awarded a Doctorate in Combustion Physics from Lund University in Sweden (2015) and a bachelor’s degree in Opto-electronic Engineering from NUDT in China (2009). He was employed as a Lecturer by the Science and Technology on Scramjet Laboratory, NUDT, in 2015 and promoted to an Associate Professor in 2018. His present research focus is supersonic combustion and laser-based combustion diagnostics. He was supported by the Huxiang Youth Talent Program and co-authored over 40 journal publications.