Supersonic Free Jet Projectile Acceleration via Unconfined Gas Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for accelerating projectiles are often complex, limited by the size of the projectile, and suffer from high capital costs or low acceleration rates, particularly when achieving high velocities.
Innovation Solution
A system using a supersonic free jet generated by an energy source and expansion structure to accelerate projectiles without a supporting structure, allowing for continuous acceleration and reduced heat transfer to the environment, enabling shorter and more efficient launchers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a pressurized working fluid is allowed to expand along a support structure to accelerate a projectile, then high projectile velocities can be achieved, but the support structure becomes very long and mechanically complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the traditional support structure (barrel) that confines the expanding gas, allowing the gas to expand freely in an unconfined environment. This extraction of the supporting structure eliminates the mechanical complexity and length constraints while maintaining the projectile acceleration function through a free-jet expansion process
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes pneumatic principles by allowing pressurized gas to expand freely along a ballistic trajectory without mechanical confinement. The expanding gas acts directly on the projectile in an unconfined pneumatic environment, eliminating the need for a physical support structure while maintaining acceleration capability
2Speed
If a long support structure is used to achieve high projectile velocities, then heat transfer to the support structure limits the firing rate
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the support structure from the system, the patent eliminates the heat transfer pathway that limited firing rates in traditional systems. The free-jet expansion occurs without a physical structure to absorb heat, allowing for faster repeated firings without thermal constraints
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the expansion process by transitioning from a confined, structured environment to an unconfined free-jet expansion. This parameter change eliminates heat transfer to solid structures and enables higher firing rates while maintaining the necessary projectile velocities
3Volume of moving object
If the inner width of the support structure limits projectile size, then larger projectiles cannot be accelerated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the projectile from the confined support structure environment and allows it to be accelerated in an unconfined free-jet expansion. This removal of structural constraints eliminates the inner width limitation, enabling acceleration of larger projectiles that would not fit within traditional support structures
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a one-dimensional confined expansion within a support structure to a three-dimensional unconfined free-jet expansion. This dimensional change removes the geometric constraints imposed by the support structure's inner width, allowing projectiles of various sizes to be accelerated without structural limitations
4Speed
If rocket engines travel with the projectile during acceleration, then desired final velocity can be achieved, but acceleration rates are limited and reuse is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates the propulsion function from the projectile by using a stationary expansion structure that generates the expanding gas, which then acts on the projectile during its ballistic trajectory. This segmentation allows the propulsion system to remain stationary and reusable while the projectile achieves high acceleration rates during its brief exposure to the expanding gas
Solution Approach 2:
The expansion structure generates and releases the expanding gas before the projectile arrives, creating a pre-positioned accelerating medium. The projectile then passes through this pre-created expanding gas field, achieving high acceleration rates without carrying its own propulsion system, and enabling rapid reuse of the launch system
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes an energy source and an expansion structure. The energy source is configured to convey an amount of energy operable to increase a pressure of a compressible gas disposed in a chamber. The expansion structure is configured to be placed in fluid communication with the chamber and to receive a flow of the compressible gas in response to the increase in pressure. The expansion structure includes an inlet having a first diameter and an outlet having a second diameter greater than the first diameter and is configured to allow the compressible gas to expand as the compressible gas flows from the inlet to the outlet such that a supersonic free jet of the compressible gas exits the outlet. In some instances, the supersonic free jet of the compressible gas can accelerate, relative to the expansion structure, a projectile disposed outside of the expansion structure.