The Terror of Being Ruled by Formulas

"You should know that before the rotating detonation engine, I also tinkered with a drone that attempted to reach space, combining the characteristics of turbojets and ramjets."

Chen Yi began talking about the drone engine he had previously used in his attempt to reach space.

Although, due to the properties of the cryogenic thermally reinforced material, this engine could not be disassembled or destroyed after it had been finalized, and its durability was not great either.

That did not affect the application of its combined turbojet-and-ramjet technology to the design of other engines.

"An engine for reaching space?"

"Combining turbojet and ramjet features?"

The experts and Academicians all widened their eyes and turned to look at Professor Zhang, who had interacted with Chen Yi more often.

When they saw Professor Zhang nod along, everyone fell silent.

So the rotating detonation engine had not even been the main point, and the atmospheric ion-propulsion drone had not been the key either.

Even before that, there had already been a super engine combining turbojet and ramjet technology.

"I remember that your engine used a special stress-resistant material.

The confidentiality department secretly purchased several units before and even went to investigate Yifei's factory. You knew about that too.

I studied it for a while back then, but because the stress-resistant material could not be disassembled for research, and then the Lunar Lander Drone came along, this engine was temporarily set aside."

Professor Zhang recalled the intelligence on that engine.

"I know about that.

But what I want to discuss now is the engine's internal aerodynamic layout.

That layout and structure are the key to combining the characteristics of turbojets and ramjets."

Chen Yi took some paper and a pen from nearby, drew a special turbine blade structure, then marked it with fluid formulas and aerodynamic parameters.

Chen Yi had previously accessed the technical information for the engine designed to reach space.

At first, though, he could only imitate it blindly, knowing what it was but not why it worked.

It was not until he had accessed information on other aerodynamic layouts and rotating detonation engines, and conducted in-depth research into aircraft, engines, aerodynamic layouts, and related fields through virtual learning.

That Chen Yi truly understood the mysteries of the space-reaching engine.

It was an engine technology that broke through the barrier between turbojets and ramjets, allowing the two to be combined.

If one's research into aircraft engines was deep enough, and one fully integrated variable-cycle engines that combined turbofans and turbojets with rotating detonation engines.

It would even be possible to design and manufacture an all-weather, all-domain, land-air-space integrated engine combining the traits of turbofans, turbojets, subsonic-combustion ramjets, scramjets, and rotating detonation engines.

Professor Zhang and the others gathered around.

They only glanced once at the turbine blade Chen Yi had drawn before shifting their attention to the parameters and formulas beside it.

For people at their level, hand-drawn diagrams were not precise enough. The real key lay in the parameters and formulas.

"These are the aerodynamic parameters and airflow equations for turbine fan blades?"

After studying them for a while, Professor Zhang cautiously voiced his conclusion.

He was uncertain because the parameters were indeed aerodynamic parameters, and the formulas were related to fluid equations.

Yet as an expert in aircraft and engine design with substantial research into fluid mechanics, he had never seen the contents of those formulas before.

"They are indeed fluid formulas, and entirely new ones at that."

At that moment, an Academician beside him with deeper research into fluid mechanics spoke up, confirming that they were fluid formulas.

"That's right. This is an entirely new aerodynamic fluid formula.

The turbine blade beside it is a special blade manufactured according to this formula.

Of course, I am not professionally trained in drawing, so my sketch is not precise.

I'll roughly explain what the formula does and how the turbine blade structure functions."

Chen Yi nodded. As he filled in more details of the formula, he began explaining.

"We all know that turbine engines compress and pressurize incoming airflow through their blades.

Ramjet engines, meanwhile, compress and pressurize incoming airflow through a constricting ram structure.

But is it possible for turbine blades, under specific conditions, to become a special ram structure, thereby combining turbine and ramjet engines?"

"That's impossible!"

"I've never heard of anything like that!"

The moment Chen Yi finished speaking, the surrounding experts could not help shouting.

"There is no such thing as impossible.

We still have not fully uncovered all the mysteries of the fluid continuity equation and the Navier-Stokes equation in aerodynamic fluid mechanics."

Chen Yi answered calmly, "In these areas we have not fully researched, where so much remains unknown, nothing is impossible.

This formula is a new addition to the fluid continuity equation and the Navier-Stokes equation—a new mystery."

Professor Zhang, who knew Chen Yi relatively well, did not doubt his words.

After looking over the details Chen Yi had added to the formula and thinking for a moment, he said, "You mean that through a special aerodynamic layout and blade structure.

When the intake airflow reaches the turbojet limit of Mach 3.

The turbine blade structure will adaptively adjust and transform, creating a concave, constricting ram structure?

The original turbojet engine structure will become a ramjet engine structure?"

"Yes, but it does not have to be fixed at Mach 3.

With certain adjustments to the blade structure.

That value can also change from Mach 3 to Mach 0.9. If the strength is sufficient, Mach 5 works too."

Chen Yi nodded.

Mach 0.9 was the dividing line for turbofan engines. Beyond Mach 0.9, the efficiency and performance of turbojet structures surpassed those of turbofans.

Mach 3 was the dividing line for turbojet engines.

Beyond that threshold, the supersonic intake airflow would ignite prematurely at the turbine blades from excessive compression before it could reach the combustion chamber, causing the engine to stall.

That was why the speed limit of conventional turbojet engines was Mach 3.

Beyond Mach 3, a ramjet engine had to be used.

Mach 5, meanwhile, was the boundary between subsonic-combustion ramjets and scramjets.

"This kind of structure places extremely high demands on the materials."

After making some calculations in his mind, an expert Academician with deep materials research could not help frowning.

In an ordinary ramjet engine, the ram structure was simply a solid wall of metal.

But now, it had to be replaced with individual metal plates, with the structure between those plates forming a wall while still maintaining the wall's strength.

There was no need for testing. Just imagining it made it clear how demanding the material requirements would be.

"The material strength does need to be increased somewhat.

However, because this is not a fully ramjet-based structure and does not rely entirely on the structure resisting the force head-on.

Instead, the outer duct formed by the tiny gaps between the blades and the engine sidewalls, along with the compressed main inner duct formed at the center, use the pressure between the two ducts to maintain structural stability.

With that, a 5 to 8 percent increase in material strength for subsonic-combustion ramjets, and a 10 to 15 percent increase for scramjets, will meet the requirements."

Unable to find a blackboard, Chen Yi directly wrote rows of parameters and calculation formulas on the wall with his pen to prove his explanation.

In this world, aside from sweet nothings that made people afraid to go outside during thunderstorms after a breakup.

No description carried more proof or authority than mathematical formulas.

"..."

Watching Chen Yi start writing formulas at the slightest disagreement.

Professor Zhang and the other experts and Academicians exchanged looks, their eyes revealing helplessness and nostalgia.

It felt just like when they had been young, following their mentors in university.

Back then, the professors at the podium had been the same, throwing formulas at them without warning.

Those dense formulas had tortured their younger selves until they wanted to live and die at the same time.

They had never expected that after several decades.

They would all become expert professors, Academicians, and senior engineers, the new pillars of the nation's scientific research field.

Only to relive that feeling of being ruled by their mentors' formulas.

More than an hour passed, and Chen Yi finished writing.

Two hours passed, then three hours, then five hours.

More than five hours were spent.

Through those formulas, Professor Zhang and the others finally understood the plan Chen Yi had described.

Simply put, it was like a compression fan blade capable of adapting to wind speed on its own.

If the wind blowing against the blade was relatively weak, the blade maintained its fan structure and compressed and pressurized the incoming wind through rotation.

If the wind was too fierce, the blade split open at the center, forming a concave constricting passage that compressed and pressurized the incoming wind with its narrowed channel structure.

But for the fan blade to move and rotate.

There had to be movable gaps between the blade and the surrounding sidewalls.

When the blade split open at the center to form a compression channel, those gaps formed an outer channel.

The pressure balance between the two channels further maintained the structural balance of the compression channel.

It was like an object caught between two air currents. As long as the currents on both sides remained balanced, the object in the middle would naturally be as stable as could be.

The aerodynamic and structural design of the blades could determine.

Whether the blades split when the airflow reached Mach 0.9, Mach 3, or Mach 5.

Whether to design one-stage blades, two-stage blades, or three-stage blades, and how the splitting speed of each blade differed.

These varying blade designs and their corresponding splitting speeds were the key to combining the performance characteristics of turbofans, turbojets, subsonic-combustion ramjets, scramjets, and other engines.

Of course, that was only the basic principle.

To actually achieve such a structure inside an engine, one only had to look at the formulas Chen Yi had written across dozens of meters of wall to understand the difficulty involved.

The difficulty of going from principle to realization was like telling someone.

You inflate a balloon, then release its opening, and the balloon flies away.

All right, now that you understand the principle of jet thrust, please independently design a supersonic fighter jet.

"All right, stop looking."

Professor Zhang pulled himself free from Chen Yi's ocean of formulas, took a deep breath, and spoke to everyone.

"We need to notify the confidentiality department first and have them photograph these formulas for top-secret preservation."

"What about this wall?"

"Push it down, melt it, turn it into glass, then smash it and bury it deep."

Professor Zhang rubbed his swollen, aching head tiredly, then turned and gave Chen Yi a thumbs-up.

"Good work, kid."

"You're probably the only person in the world who can make us old fellows recall our student days and feel the terror of being ruled by formulas again."

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