Numerical simulations and performance assessment of a scramjet powered cruise vehicle at Mach 8

The work of this paper is developed in the framework of the European FP7 project LAPCAT-II and focuses on the aero-propulsive balance of a hypersonic Mach 8 vehicle at cruise on the basis of nose-to-tail computations. Different CFD-codes and approaches are explored assessing the sensitivity of meshes, codes and turbulence models. In particular, different levels of combustor simulations ranging from 1D to full 3D have been performed and evaluated. This allowed a better estimation of the throttling setting for cruise. Similarly, a better assessment of the needed combustor length as well as the NOx emission could be assessed.