The Boeing Company

Mark L Sloan

Garry W Klees

Matthew David Moore

Edward C Marques

Richard A Black

Gary L Lidstone

Steven R Overton

William John Bigbee-Hansen

Russel L Thornock

An aircraft includes at least one turbofan engine assembly having a shrouded core engine, a short nacelle surrounding a fan and a forward portion of the core engine, and a fan exhaust duct through the nacelle. A mixer duct shell is positioned substantially coaxial with the engine shroud and extends forwardly into the fan duct to provide an interstitial mixer duct between the mixer duct shell and the core engine shroud. The aft portion of the mixer duct shell extends over a turbine exhaust frame, an attached mixer (if included), and a tail cone exhaust plug. The mixer duct shell can reduce noise and plume exhaust heat radiated from aircraft turbofan engines.

Internal mixing of a portion of fan exhaust flow and full core exhaust flow in aircraft turbofan engines

A cooling system (18) for supplying an even distribution of cooling air within a payload chamber (14) of a launch vehicle is disclosed. The cooling system (18) includes an elongate duct (20), a diverter (22), and a plurality of partitions (24a, 24b, 24c . . . ). The diverter (22) is attached to a distal end (21) of the elongate duct (20) by the plurality of partitions (24a, 24b, 24c . . . ). A turning vane (26) integral with two of the plurality of partitions (24a, 24b, 24c . . . ) extends into the elongate duct (20) dividing part of the elongate duct (20) into two separate halves. Cooling air passes through the elongate duct (20) and strikes the diverter (22) which evenly distributes the cooling air within the payload chamber (14) of the launch vehicle.

Payload chamber cooling system

An aircraft for vertical or short take off and landing operations having two main lift nozzles, both positioned at or near the aircraft center of gravity utilizes one or more jet screen nozzles, arranged in a variety of shapes and combinations, discharging bypass air from a position forward of the center of gravity, and a variable pitch nozzle discharging engine exhaust gas mixed with bypass air from a position aft of the center of gravity, to achieve pitch control while airborne in vertical take off or landing mode. The jet screen nozzle also prevents or reduces ingestion of mixed hot exhaust gas and bypass air discharged through the main lift nozzles. The jet screen nozzle further prevents or reduces ingestion of foreign object debris disturbed by the vertical lift discharge flowing from the main lift nozzles. Lift improvement devices are deployed during short or vertical takeoff and landing operations to act as air dams to cause main lift nozzle discharge striking the ground and returning to the aircraft as a fountain flow and flowing against the lower surface of the aircraft, to separate from the aircraft surface and return toward the ground. This enhances lift effect on the aircraft while avoiding further hot exhaust gas flow along the aircraft skin surface and eventually into the aircraft engine inlet. A control system modulates the jet screen nozzle and aft pitch control nozzle, along with the cruise nozzle, main lift nozzles and other control nozzles so that total engine discharge flow area remains substantially constant through a range of pitch control and other maneuvering commands.

Aircraft engine inlet hot gas and foreign object ingestion reduction and

A supersonic jet engine for improved noise abatement and thrust augmentation. There is an intake section, an engine, a mixing section, an exhaust section, and a secondary air passageway. Ambient air is directed into the engine and into the secondary air passageway. Exhaust from the engine and the secondary air are directed into primary and secondary segments to mix in a stream direction as supersonic flow. Selectively controllable primary bypass passageways are provided at the primary passageway segments and are operated to bypass the primary flow through the primary segments at times when greater primary flow area is required.

Nozzle system and method for supersonic jet engine

A jet engine for use in a hypersonic aircraft. A fuel rich injectant is injected into the mixing zone of a duct at a substantial downstream angle to form an ejector. The temperature of the injectant is sufficiently low that spontaneous combustion of the injectant is delayed until the injectant reaches the combustion zone of the duct. In order to prevent combustion from propagating upstream from the combustion zone, the equivalence ratio of the mixture of injectant and ambient air flowing along the wall of the duct is maintained at a relatively high value, and the velocity profile of the flow along the wall of the duct is maintained at a relatively high value.

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Newcastle, WA, United States of America

Mark L Sloan