USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Jesse R Maxwell

Triem T Hoang

Robert W Baldauff

Gabriel B Goodwin

Brandon Powell

Kwok Cheung

Rachel E Carter

Michael R Dixon, Jr

Evan Hyde

A shapeable inlet manifold for a hypersonic scramjet includes an inlet lower cowling; a mount surface; and an inlet stream surface movably coupled to the mount surface, wherein the inlet lower cowling and the inlet stream surface define an opening of the shapeable inlet manifold allowing fluid flow therethrough. The inlet stream surface has first and second dispositions relative to the lower cowling defining first and second shapes of the opening, thereby providing respective first and second flow characteristics through the inlet manifold during flight.

Shapeable inlet manifold for hypersonic scramjet

A hybrid capillary and mechanically pumped loop heat pipe (HLHP) includes a fluid loop having an evaporator thermally coupled to a heat load, a condenser thermally coupled to a heat sink, a reservoir, and one or more magnetically levitating pumps configured to pump fluid through the loop thereby improving heat transport capacity and system stability.

Hybrid loop heat pipe with integrated magnetically levitating bearingless pump

A method of thermally protecting a leading edge of a hypersonic system includes saturating an annular primary wick in contact with an evaporator and having a first pore size with a phase change material by means of an annularly-inward secondary wick having a second pore size and being coupled to a liquid line, the second pore size being larger than the first, where a first end of the secondary wick extends into a reservoir and a second end of the secondary wick extends into the evaporator, the second end of the secondary wick having a terminal end. The method includes terminating the liquid line inside of the evaporator, transferring thermal energy from the leading edge into the phase change material, raising the temperature of the phase change material to a phase-change temperature, changing phase of the phase change material, and carrying away heat from the leading edge.

Two-phase thermal protection of the hypersonic leading edge

A method of cooling a battery cell includes: atomizing a cooling fluid by driving it through a micro-nozzle at a pressure sufficient to create a jet of aerosolized liquid droplets while retaining sufficient momentum in flow of the fluid to travel from the nozzle to an outer surface of the battery cell; impinging the spray of the jet of aerosolized liquid droplets on an outer surface of the battery cell; partially evaporating the liquid droplets on the outer surface to conduct heat from the outer surface; and convecting heat from the outer surface of the battery via the cooling fluid.

Two phase exothermic cooling

A method of designing a hypersonic vehicle includes selecting a shock shape; tracing a leading edge along the shock shape; selecting a base plane defining endpoints of the leading edge and rearwardly displaced from a front of the leading edge; and tracing stream surfaces back from the leading edge along the shock to the base plane in order to define an upper surface and a lower surface, wherein the upper and lower surfaces and base plane enclose a volume representing internal volume of the hypersonic vehicle. The lower stream surface is controllably morphable.

Growing community of inventors

Silver Spring, MD, United States of America

Jesse R Maxwell