This section will outline some the major scopes of work within this project. Due to ongoing research this section will outline needed functionality as opposed to system requirements. The rocket motor will be designed according to basic principles of hybrid rocket operation, many of the concepts drawn from the book Space Propulsion Analysis and Design by Humble et al. Static testing and data acquisition equipment will also be developed. The following sections A, B and C will briefly outline elements of the of the project respectively illustrated in Figure 2(A), 2(B), and 2(C).
A. Ground Support Station
The first item to be developed is a Ground Station that test firing can be performed from. The main purpose of this support station is to provide the necessary equipment to load and ignite the motor and collect data. The control station will be located at a distance compliant with Tripoli regulations and relevant laws during motor ignition. The key equipment needed for the support station are as follows:
A nitrous oxide supply tank
A data acquisition interface
A wirelessly operated ignition trigger
A power source (not illustrated).
B. Static Test Bed
The second scope of work in this project is the static test bed. During testing, the motor will be secured on the static test bed. The ground support station is directly linked to the static test bed (B) through a network connection. The network will use various sensors to monitor the motor’s performance. Although more research is necessary, we envision our test bed to be equipped with the following sensors:
A pressure transducer to monitor the combustion chamber pressure
A load cell to record the motor’s thrust curve
A flow meter to monitor the oxidizer flow rate
C. Hybrid Propulsion Motor
The Hybrid Propulsion Motor is the main scope of work within the project. This section will outline the two major sub-scopes to development of a functioning motor. 1) Fluid Control: The motor itself will be manufactured in the Harvey Mudd machine shop using mostly Aluminum 6061 alloy, with other materials such a stainless steel and graphite used as necessary. As described before, there are three main components: the oxidizer tank, actuated valve, and combustion chamber. The oxidizer tank and combustion chambers will
likely be purchased and then modified to meet the needs of EHPS. An servo actuated valve will likely be purchased and used regulate the oxidizer flow. Finally, several injector and nozzle designs will be investigated. We will model and design these parts as well as their digital controls. Research is still being done into appropriate materials and geometries for these parts. Thus the items for implementation can be reduced to the following:
Oxidizer Injector
Actuated Valve
PID controller
Nozzle