A variable configuration intercontinental high speed transportation system

Abstract

The application provides a variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transport system, which comprises a rocket booster and a cruise vehicle, and the cruise vehicle is arranged in series above the rocket booster; the transport system uses a mode of vertical launching by using a first-stage rocket booster+air-breathing cruise flight by using a second-stage rocket+vertical recovery, and has a variable-configuration capability, so that the vehicle meets different requirements of a vertical launching section, a hypersonic cruise flight section and a vertical landing section at the same time, and realizes efficient intercontinental transport capability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of aircraft design technology, and specifically relates to a variable configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system. Background Technology

[0002] The improvement of transportation speed has always been a major driving force for the development of human civilization. It is foreseeable that in the future, the speed of human transportation will increase dramatically from subsonic and supersonic to hypersonic. Researching a high-speed and economical intercontinental transportation system is an essential path for the future development of the aerospace industry.

[0003] Existing intercontinental high-speed transportation systems can be categorized into several types based on their takeoff and landing methods, including horizontal takeoff and landing (FTRT) and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). Among these, VTOL intercontinental transport aircraft have developed rapidly in recent years with advancements in rocket recovery technology. They eliminate the need for complex wings, lift-enhancing devices, and landing gear, offering advantages such as simple structure and low empty weight. However, these aircraft typically use rocket propulsion, resulting in lower specific impulse. Furthermore, these aircraft usually employ relatively simple, symmetrical, straight wings to avoid asymmetric aerodynamic forces and moments during vertical launch and recovery, which could affect the aircraft's attitude stability, as exemplified by SpaceX's Starship system.

[0004] Intercontinental transport aircraft with horizontal takeoff and landing typically employ air-breathing propulsion systems with high specific impulse, cruising within the atmosphere. They offer better energy efficiency and a flight profile closer to that of traditional aircraft, making them more passenger-friendly. However, to meet runway landing requirements, they need to be equipped with complex wings, lift-enhancing devices, landing gear, etc., resulting in a relatively large empty weight. These aircraft often utilize asymmetrical large wings to achieve a higher cruise lift-to-drag ratio.

[0005] Combining the advantages and disadvantages of the two flight modes mentioned above, this invention proposes a variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system. This transportation system uses a single-stage rocket-assisted vertical launch + two-stage air-breathing cruise flight + rocket vertical recovery mode, and has variable configuration capability. By changing the configuration, the aircraft can adapt to the needs of different flight stages such as vertical launch, high lift-to-drag ratio cruise, and vertical landing, thereby achieving efficient intercontinental transportation capability. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In order to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, the inventors have conducted intensive research and provided a variable configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system. This transportation system uses a mode of 1-stage rocket-assisted vertical launch + 2-stage air-breathing cruise flight + rocket vertical landing, and has variable configuration capability, so that the aircraft can simultaneously meet the different requirements of the takeoff and launch phase, cruise phase and landing phase, thereby completing the present invention.

[0007] The technical solution provided by this invention is as follows: This invention provides a variable configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system, including a rocket booster and a cruise vehicle, with the cruise vehicle arranged in series above the rocket booster; The cruise aircraft includes a fuselage, deformable wings, a tail, an air-breathing engine and air intake, and a vertical landing retro-rockets; the deformable wings are planar delta wings, mounted on both sides of the fuselage; the tail consists of four sets, arranged in an X-shape and mounted at the rear of the fuselage; the air-breathing engine and air intake are mounted on the lower rear of the fuselage; and the vertical landing retro-rockets are mounted at the rear of the fuselage. During the vertical launch phase, the rocket booster is launched vertically, propelling the cruise vehicle to hypersonic speeds. After that, the rocket booster separates from the cruise vehicle and is recovered vertically in situ. During the acceleration phase, the cruise vehicle's own air-breathing engine ignites and operates, propelling the cruise vehicle to the predetermined cruise speed; or it can be directly propelled to the cruise speed by the rocket booster. During the hypersonic cruise phase, the cruise aircraft’s own air-breathing engine ignites and operates to maintain a constant speed and hypersonic flight. During the deceleration and gliding phase, the air-breathing engine of the cruise aircraft gradually reduces thrust or stops working, using its own kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy to overcome resistance and do work, continuously reducing the flight speed to subsonic speed, until it can no longer maintain lift-weight balance. During the vertical landing phase, the cruise vehicle adopts a vertical landing attitude. The retrorockets ignite during vertical landing, and the cruise vehicle's speed and altitude are continuously reduced until it completes a vertical landing. The variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system provided by the present invention has the following beneficial effects: (1) The present invention provides a variable configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system, which is a new intercontinental transportation vehicle with a 1-stage rocket-assisted vertical launch + 2-stage air-breathing cruise flight + rocket vertical landing, and has variable configuration capability, so that the vehicle can simultaneously meet the different requirements of the vertical launch segment, the hypersonic cruise flight segment and the vertical landing segment. (2) The variable configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system provided by the present invention has a completely symmetrical configuration in the vertical launch and vertical landing phases, which can effectively avoid the side roll moment generated by the symmetrical wing surface, improve the safety of the launch, and reduce the thrust and speed loss caused by overcoming the side roll moment; at the same time, the flat delta wing surface structure is simple and lightweight, which can effectively reduce the structural dead weight and improve the carrying efficiency. (3) The present invention provides a variable configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system. During the hypersonic cruise flight phase, the second-stage cruise vehicle achieves wave-riding lift enhancement by changing the dihedral angle. Its maximum lift-to-drag ratio can reach more than 3.2, which can effectively support the realization of long-range cruise vehicles. (4) The variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system provided by this invention allows the large wing surfaces of the cruise vehicle to provide sufficient lift during the deceleration and gliding (subsonic flight) phase before landing, enabling the cruise vehicle to have a lower minimum level flight speed. This, in turn, allows the cruise vehicle to have a lower initial speed (vertical landing engine ignition speed) when transitioning from level flight to vertical landing, reducing the vertical landing engine's operating time and lowering fuel consumption during the vertical landing phase. Compared to existing reusable rockets such as Starship and Falcon 9, vertical landing fuel consumption can be reduced by 50%. Attached Figure Description

[0008] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transport system; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the components of a cruise aircraft; Figure 3 Flight profile of a variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transport system; Figure 4 For the deployment configuration of a cruise aircraft; Figure 5 The configuration is a downward-facing variant of the cruise aircraft. Figure 6 For cruise aircraft with folding wingtips; Figure 7 The compartments of a cruise aircraft are divided. Detailed Implementation

[0009] The features and advantages of the present invention will become clearer and more explicit from the following detailed description.

[0010] The term “exemplary” as used herein means “serving as an example, embodiment, or illustration.” Any embodiment illustrated herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as superior to or better than other embodiments.

[0011] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a variable configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system, including a rocket booster 1 and a cruise vehicle 2, wherein the cruise vehicle 2 is arranged in series above the rocket booster 1.

[0012] like Figure 2 As shown, the cruise aircraft 2 includes a fuselage 3, deformable wings 4, tail fins 5, air-breathing engines and air intakes 6, and vertical landing retro-rockets 7; the deformable wings 4 are planar delta wings, mounted on both sides of the fuselage; the tail fins 5 consist of four sets, arranged in an X-shape and mounted at the rear of the fuselage; the air-breathing engines and air intakes 6 are mounted on the lower rear of the fuselage, and the air-breathing engines can be either scramjet engines or detonation engines; the vertical landing retro-rockets 7 are mounted at the rear of the fuselage.

[0013] like Figure 3As shown, the flight profile of this intercontinental high-speed transportation system includes five stages: vertical launch, acceleration flight, hypersonic cruise flight, deceleration gliding, and vertical landing.

[0014] ① During the vertical launch phase, rocket booster 1 is launched vertically, which drives cruise vehicle 2 to hypersonic speed. After that, rocket booster 1 separates from cruise vehicle 2 and is recovered vertically in situ.

[0015] ② During the acceleration phase, the air-breathing engine of cruise vehicle 2 ignites and operates, propelling cruise vehicle 2 to the predetermined cruising speed. Alternatively, the rocket booster 1 can directly propel it to cruising speed, in which case this flight phase can be omitted.

[0016] ③ During the hypersonic cruise phase, the air-breathing engine of the cruise vehicle 2 ignites and operates to maintain uniform hypersonic flight.

[0017] ④ During the deceleration and gliding phase, the air-breathing engine of cruise vehicle 2 gradually reduces thrust or stops working, using its own kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy to overcome resistance and do work, continuously reducing the flight speed to subsonic speed, until it can no longer maintain lift-weight balance.

[0018] ⑤ During the vertical landing phase, cruise vehicle 2 adopts a vertical landing attitude. The vertical landing is achieved by igniting the retro-rockets 7 and continuously reducing the speed and altitude of cruise vehicle 2 until cruise vehicle 2 completes the vertical landing.

[0019] The wings of this intercontinental high-speed transport system can be folded down and deformed at both the wing root and wingtip. Through the folding of wings 4, the cruise aircraft has three states to adapt to different flight phases: The aircraft's wings (4) can be folded down and deformed at both the wing root and wingtip. Through the folding of wings (4), the cruise aircraft has three states to adapt to different flight phases: ① Straight wing configuration: The wing is fully extended and in a straight state without dihedrient, such as... Figure 4 As shown. This configuration is mainly used for vertical launch, vertical landing, and deceleration gliding phases. During vertical launch and vertical landing, the cruise vehicle is nearly perfectly symmetrical, without generating asymmetrical aerodynamic forces and roll moments. This significantly simplifies the control pressure on the cruise vehicle and rocket boosters, and reduces thrust and velocity losses caused by overcoming roll moments. During deceleration gliding, the fully extended large wings can significantly reduce wing loading, lowering the minimum speed required for the cruise vehicle to maintain flight, thereby greatly reducing the initial speed of the cruise vehicle during the vertical landing phase and significantly reducing the fuel consumption required for the vertical recovery phase.

[0020] ②Anhedral configuration: The wing folds down significantly at the wing root, such as... Figure 5As shown, this configuration is primarily used during hypersonic cruise flight. It utilizes the anhedral of the wing to create a wave-riding effect, leveraging the high-pressure zone formed by shock wave compression beneath the anhedral wing to increase lift, thereby significantly improving the cruise lift-to-drag ratio and extending range. Furthermore, depending on the flight Mach number and the angle of attack of the incoming flow, the shock wave spatial structure of the flow field can be controlled by adjusting the anhedral angle of the wing surface, thus enabling the cruise aircraft to achieve optimal wave-riding lift enhancement under various operating conditions.

[0021] ③ Wingtip folding state: The wingtip is folded down approximately 90°, such as 75°-90°, etc. Figure 6 As shown in the diagram, the two folded wingtips in this configuration serve both as vertical stabilizers and provide wave-riding lift and aerodynamic center adjustment, enabling the aircraft to perform hypersonic cruise, transonic flight, and transitions between different flight phases. Simultaneously, the differential folding of the two wingtips aids in attitude control for the cruise aircraft.

[0022] Based on the above plan, Figure 7 This further demonstrates a feasible compartmentalization method for the intercontinental high-speed transportation system. The cruise aircraft is divided into five parts from front to back: equipment compartment, forward fuel tank, passenger compartment, aft fuel tank, and thrust reverser rocket compartment. The passenger compartment is located in the middle of the cruise aircraft fuselage, which can significantly reduce overload, improve comfort, and utilize the two fuel tanks for cooling. The forward and aft fuel tanks are located at the front and rear of the fuselage respectively. The center of gravity of the cruise aircraft can be adjusted by regulating the fuel distribution in these two tanks to accommodate changes in the lift center as the cruise aircraft flies across different speed ranges, including hypersonic, supersonic, transonic, and subsonic.

[0023] The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to specific embodiments and exemplary examples; however, these descriptions should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art will understand that various equivalent substitutions, modifications, or improvements can be made to the technical solutions and embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications and improvements fall within the scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

[0024] The contents not described in detail in this specification are common knowledge to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system, characterized in that, It includes a rocket booster and a cruise vehicle, with the cruise vehicle arranged in series above the rocket booster; The cruise aircraft includes a fuselage, deformable wings, a tail, an air-breathing engine and air intake, and a vertical landing retro-rockets; the deformable wings are planar delta wings, mounted on both sides of the fuselage; the tail consists of four sets, arranged in an X-shape and mounted at the rear of the fuselage; the air-breathing engine and air intake are mounted on the lower rear of the fuselage; and the vertical landing retro-rockets are mounted at the rear of the fuselage. During the vertical launch phase, the rocket booster is launched vertically, propelling the cruise vehicle to hypersonic speeds. After that, the rocket booster separates from the cruise vehicle and is recovered vertically in situ. During the acceleration phase, the cruise vehicle's own air-breathing engine ignites and operates, propelling the cruise vehicle to the predetermined cruise speed; or it can be directly propelled to the cruise speed by rocket boosters. During the hypersonic cruise phase, the cruise aircraft’s own air-breathing engine ignites and operates to maintain a constant speed and hypersonic flight. During the deceleration and gliding phase, the air-breathing engine of the cruise aircraft gradually reduces thrust or stops working, using its own kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy to overcome resistance and do work, continuously reducing the flight speed to subsonic speed, until it can no longer maintain lift-weight balance. During the vertical landing phase, the cruise vehicle adopts a vertical landing attitude. The vertical landing is achieved by igniting retro-rockets and continuously reducing the speed and altitude of the cruise vehicle until it completes the vertical landing.

2. The variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The wings of the intercontinental high-speed transport system can be folded down and deformed at both the wing root and wingtip.

3. The variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cruise aircraft can present a straight wing shape depending on the folding state of its wings; In the straight wing configuration, the wings are fully extended and in a straight state without dihedral. This configuration is mainly used for vertical launch, vertical landing, and deceleration gliding phases. During vertical launch and vertical landing, the cruise aircraft is nearly perfectly symmetrical, without generating asymmetrical aerodynamic forces and roll moments, simplifying the control pressure on the cruise aircraft and rocket boosters, and reducing thrust and speed losses caused by overcoming roll moments. During deceleration gliding, the fully extended large wing surface significantly reduces wing loading, lowers the minimum speed required for the cruise aircraft to maintain flight, and reduces the initial speed of the cruise aircraft during the vertical landing phase.

4. The variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cruise aircraft can present a dihedral wing configuration depending on the folding state of its wings; In the dihedral configuration, the wings fold downwards at the wing root. This configuration is mainly used in the hypersonic cruise phase. The dihedral of the wings creates a wave-riding effect, and the high-pressure zone formed by the shock wave compression below the dihedral wings increases the lift of the aircraft, improves the cruise lift-to-drag ratio, and increases the range. Depending on the flight Mach number and the angle of attack of the incoming flow, the shock wave spatial structure of the flow field is controlled by adjusting the dihedral angle of the wing surface, so that the cruise aircraft can obtain the best wave-riding lift enhancement effect under different operating conditions.

5. The variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cruise aircraft can present a wingtip folded state depending on the folding state of its wings; In the wingtip folded state, the wings fold downwards at the wingtips by 75°-90°. In this configuration, the two folded wingtips serve as vertical stabilizers, as well as wave-riding lift and aerodynamic center adjustment, for hypersonic cruise, transonic flight, and transitions between different flight phases. At the same time, the differential folding of the two wingtips helps the cruise aircraft perform attitude control.

6. The variable-configuration intercontinental high-speed transportation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cruise aircraft is divided into five parts from front to back: equipment compartment, forward fuel tank, passenger compartment, aft fuel tank, and retrorockets. The passenger compartment is located in the middle of the cruise aircraft fuselage and can be cooled by the two fuel tanks. The forward and aft fuel tanks are located at the front and rear of the fuselage, respectively. By adjusting the fuel in the two fuel tanks, the center of gravity of the cruise aircraft can be adjusted to adapt to the changes in the center of lift when the cruise aircraft flies across different speed ranges such as hypersonic, supersonic, transonic, and subsonic.

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