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Figure 5: Cross section of motor
Project Laika stemmed from an idea I had speaking with one of my projects leads to surrounding burn rate modulation using infill. This led to the formulation of an idea: a hybrid rocket motor utilizing a thermoplastic fuel that can be FDM printed, leading to a novel flexibility in grain structure. As the founder of the project, I managed the team of three through the entire design process while assuming responsibility of injector design, hardware design (casing and nozzle interfaces), and chemical evaluation.
We hit a crossroads in our design process, when faced with the issue that it would be difficult to elevate the ABS fuel grain to a temperature that it would pyrolize at before it began to melt. Our two paths would essentially be to either scrap the thermoplastic fuel grain and instead begin with a more commonly used HTPB or acrylic fuel grain at the cost of losing our research purpose or devoting a larger effort into investigating potential ignition systems. We chose the latter and parsed through many different solutions from laser ignition using a 5W 4.9μm laser, to classical pyrotechnics. We settled on a modified pyrotechnic that through our calculations, proved to be a promising ignition solution.
Figure 7: A proposed grain infill distribution
Figure 6: P&ID Diagram
Our project at the current moment has taken a pause to allow for other efforts to take focused but we have designed and reviewed the entire system and accounted for inputs such as concerns about heat transfer over the burn time which was addressed by making modifications to our phenolic lining system. We await the opportunity to begin manufacturing and testing individual components.
This was by far the freest and most self-led experience of my engineering journey so far, which has made it arguably the most enjoyable.
We anticipate an approximate thrust of 500N, putting it within the range of comparable 54mm motors. This was determined by me personally through the use of CEA software such as RPA in combination with idealized exhaust calculations using our planned motor dimensions. Our next goal after static firing the motor would be to optimize the motor and injection system while reducing as much weight as possible to eventually fit the motor into a flight vehicle.
Major Skills Utilized:
Major Skills Utilized:
Fluid System Design
Structural-thermal analysis
CFD (Starccm+)
NI LabVIEW
CAD
Report writing
Team Management
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