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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
Throttleable Gox/Abs Launch Assist Hybrid Rocket Motor For Small Scale Air Launch Platform, Zachary S. Spurrier
Throttleable Gox/Abs Launch Assist Hybrid Rocket Motor For Small Scale Air Launch Platform, Zachary S. Spurrier
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023
The ability for an aircraft-based launch platform to place an orbital payload onto a nominal launch trajectory at a higher energy state -- altitude, velocity, flight path angle, and azimuth --using highly-efficient air breathing propulsion instead of a much lower-efficiency rocket system, offers the potential for a significantly smaller launch vehicle. An airborne platform also provides the ability to launch from multiple locations and allows for significantly increased "system responsiveness." The NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Towed Glider Air-Launch System (TGALS) is a small-scale flight research project investigating the feasibility for a remotely-piloted, towed, glider system to act as a …
Closed-Loop Thrust And Pressure Profile Throttling Of A Nitrous Oxide/Hydroxyl-Terminated Polybutadiene Hybrid Rocket Motor, Zachary W. Peterson
Closed-Loop Thrust And Pressure Profile Throttling Of A Nitrous Oxide/Hydroxyl-Terminated Polybutadiene Hybrid Rocket Motor, Zachary W. Peterson
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023
Hybrid motors that employ non-toxic, non-explosive components with a liquid oxidizer and a solid hydrocarbon fuel grain have inherently safe operating characteristics. The inherent safety of hybrid rocket motors offers the potential to greatly reduce overall operating costs. Another key advantage of hybrid rocket motors is the potential for in-flight shutdown, restart, and throttle by controlling the pressure drop between the oxidizer tank and the injector. This research designed, developed, and ground tested a closed-loop throttle controller for a hybrid rocket motor using nitrous oxide and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene as propellants. The research simultaneously developed closed-loop throttle algorithms and lab scale …