| The performance of the inverse cycle engine, turbine-burner-compressor, is examined for both on-design and off-design operation and for work efficiency effects. Additionally, the thermodynamic basis for examining the inverse cycle engine (ICE) is explained. The preferred mode of operation is to have the work extraction occur supersonically upstream of the inlet throat. A normal shock at the inlet throat enables the subsonic combustion mode. The flow reaches sonic velocity at the entrance to the work addition region. At sufficiently high Mach numbers, the ICE is able to produce more thrust with cooler combustor temperatures than a ramjet. Thrust production in the ICE is less efficient than in the traditional ramjet, (i.e., each thrust unit costs more in heat units). Issues identified in furthering the development of the ICE are combustor (hence engine) size, supersonic work extraction, and fuel consumption.; Virtual turbomachinery is investigated as an enabling technology. An entrainment effectiveness is derived to measure the effects of the rotating ejecting center body, which forms the basis for virtual turbomachinery. Shock losses due to the rotating cylinder and the injectant induce large total pressure losses. The rotation and injection increase the thrust obtained from an isentropically one-dimensionalized flow expanded to a representative ambient pressure. The entrainment analysis shows significant mixing enhancement which may have application in scramjet engines.; Closed form equations are derived for work interaction. A source term is also derived allowing the computational modeling of work interaction using the quasi-one-dimensional Euler equations. Additionally, the implicit chemically reacting source term for the Euler equations is derived in detail. Issues involved in injection and mixing in quasi-one-dimensional flows are addressed. A detailed discussion of characteristic boundary conditions is also provided. The Householder matrix solver is derived and a vectorized subroutine is provided. |
