Aerospace Engineering | Open Access Articles

Optimal Sizing And Control Of Hybrid Rocket Vehicles, Srija Ryakam Dec 2021

Optimal Sizing And Control Of Hybrid Rocket Vehicles, Srija Ryakam

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In the present work, a genetic algorithm is used to optimize a hybrid rocket engine in order to minimize the propellant required for a specific mission. In a hybrid rocket engine, the mass flow rate of the oxidizer can be throttled to enhance the performance of the rocket. First, an analysis of the internal ballistics and the ascent trajectory has been carried out for different mass flow rates of the oxidizer as a function of time, for a fixed amount of oxidizer, in order to study the effect of throttling. Two equivalent problems are considered: in the first problem the …

Go to article

Additively-Manufactured Hybrid Rocket Consumable Structure For Cubesat Propulsion, Britany L. Chamberlain Dec 2018

Additively-Manufactured Hybrid Rocket Consumable Structure For Cubesat Propulsion, Britany L. Chamberlain

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three-dimensional, additive printing has emerged as an exciting new technology for the design and manufacture of small spacecraft systems. Using 3-D printed thermoplastic materials, hybrid rocket fuel grains can be printed with nearly any cross-sectional shape, and embedded cavities are easily achieved. Applying this technology to print fuel materials directly into a CubeSat frame results in an efficient, cost-effective alternative to existing CubeSat propulsion systems. Different 3-D printed materials and geometries were evaluated for their performance as propellants and as structural elements. Prototype "thrust columns" with embedded fuel ports were printed from a combination of acrylonitrile utadiene styrene (ABS) and …

Go to article

Additive Manufacturing Of High Solids Loading Hybrid Rocket Fuel Grains, Stephen P. Johnson, Michael Baier, Ibrahim E. Gunduz, Steven F. Son Aug 2017

Additive Manufacturing Of High Solids Loading Hybrid Rocket Fuel Grains, Stephen P. Johnson, Michael Baier, Ibrahim E. Gunduz, Steven F. Son

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hybrid rocket motors offer many of the benefits of both liquid and solid rocket systems. Like liquid engines, hybrid rocket motors are able to be throttled, can be stopped and restarted, and are safer than solid rocket motors since the fuel and oxidizer are in different physical states. Hybrid rocket motors are similar to solid motors in that they are relatively simple and have a high density-specific impulse. One of the major drawbacks of hybrid rocket motors is a slower burning rate than solid rocket motors. Complex port geometries provide greater burning surface area to compensate for lower burning rates …

Go to article

Senior Design - Hybrid Rocket Conceptual Design, Hardeo Chin Nov 2016

Senior Design - Hybrid Rocket Conceptual Design, Hardeo Chin

Hardeo Chin

Hybrid rockets utilize rocket motors which contain both liquid and solid propellant. They provide numerous benefits compared to solid and liquid rockets such as being mechanically simpler, having denser fuels, and providing higher specific impulse. Generally, the oxidizer is liquid and fuel is solid because solid oxidizers are dangerous and are lower performing than their liquid counterparts. Hybrid systems avoid the significant hazards of manufacturing, shipping, and handling that solid rocket motors possess. The conceptual design report herein separately assesses the structural and propulsive needs for a mid-power rocket with a G-motor

Go to article

Design Of Economical Upper Stage Hybrid Rocket Engine, Christopher R. Potter May 2013