Fabrication and Thermal Structural Characteristics of Ultra-high Temperature Ceramic Struts in Scramjets

ZrB2-SiC based ultra-high temperature ceramic (UHTC) struts were firstly proposed and fabricated with the potential application in the combustor of scramjets for fuel injection and flame-holding for their machinability and excellent oxidation/ablation resistance in the extreme harsh environment. The struts were machined with electrospark wire-electrode cutting techniques to form UHTC into the desired shape, and with laser drilling to drill tiny holes providing the channels for fuel injection. The integrated thermal-structural characteristic of the struts was evaluated in high-temperature combustion environment by the propane-oxygen free jet facility, subject to the heat flux of 1.5 MW/m2 lasting for 300 seconds, and the struts maintained integrity during and after the first experiment. The experiments were repeated for verifying the reusability of the struts. Fracture occurred during the second repeated experiment with the crack propagating through the hole. Finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out to study the thermal stress distribution in the UHTC strut. The simulation results show a high thermal stress concentration occurs at the hole which is the crack initiation position. The phenomenon is in good agreement with the experimental results. The study shows that the thermal stress concentration is a practical key issue in the applications of the reusable UHTC strut for fuel injection structure in scramjets.