Experimental and Theoretical Research Review of Hybrid Rocket Motor Techniques and Applications

A hybrid rocket motor combines components from both solid fuel and liquid fuel rocket motors. The fuel itself is a solid grain, (often paraffin or hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene, known as HTPB) while the oxidizing agent is liquid (often hydrogen peroxide or liquid oxygen). These components are combined in the fuel chamber which doubles as the combustion chamber for the hybrid motor. This review looks at the advances in techniques that have taken place in the development of these motors since 1995. Methods of testing the thrust from rocket motors and of measuring the rocket plume spectroscopically for combustion reaction products have been developed. These assessments allow researchers to more completely understand the effects of additives and physical changes in design, in terms of regression rates and thrust developed. Hybrid rocket motors have been used or tested in many areas of rocketry, including tactical rockets and large launch vehicles. Several additives have shown significant improvements in regression rates and thrust, including Guanidinium azotetrazolate (GAT), and various Aluminum alloys. The most recent discoveries have come from research into nano-particle additives. The nano-particles have been shown to provide enhancements to many parameters of hybrid rocket function, and research into specific areas continues in the sub-field of nano-additives for fuel grains.

Effect of inlet-valve structures on thrust of airbreathing pulse detonation engines

Experimental studies were conducted in order to improve the understanding of the thrust generation and the pressure/flame reverse propagation of the air-breathing pulse detonation engines(APDEs)with self-designed inlets and valves structures.The present experimental research utilized a gasoline/air APDE(with 68 mm inner-diameter,2050 mm length and maximum operating frequency not less than 40 Hz which was as a benchmark structure)at different operating frequencies,with freestream air inflow of 1.1 atm and 0℃.The theoretical equivalence ratio of gasoline/air was 1.Two kinds of inlets with centerbody or without were considered and combined with two kinds of self-designed valves(the elastic-valve and the convergent aero-valve)specially designed for comparative experiments.During the test,the inflow parameters,the pressure along the longitudinal direction inside the engine and the thrust force were measured for the APDE operating characteristic analysis,including the detonation combustion,the aerodynamic drag,the pressure/flame reverse propagation and the thrust generation.The research results indicate that:The inlet centerbody does not increase drag but plays a positive effect on airflow stability and operation matching.The elastic-valve and the convergent aero-valve,though increase the inlet aerodynamic drag,have obvious effects on suppressing the detonation wave and pressure forward propagation,resulting in effective thrust increase.Effects of the convergent aero-valve are the best when the flow choked,while the effects of elastic-valve are better and continuously stable in a wider range of frequency.The wmaximum nondimensional thrust increases with the elastic-valve is reached about 1.12 at the frequency of 8-9 Hz,and about 0.97 with the convergent aero-valve at the frequency of 7 Hz.The maximum fuel specific impulse is 2514.6 s when using the convergent aerovalve.And this study provides technical reserve for the APDE optimization design.

Performance analysis of lobed nozzle ejectors for high altitude simulation of rocket engines

Ejectors are used in high altitude testing of rocket engines to create vacuum for simulat-ing the engine test in vacuum conditions.The performance of an ejector plays a vital role in creating vacuum at the exit of the engine nozzle and the nozzle design exit pressure at the time of ignition.Consequently,the performance of ejectors has to be improved to reduce the consumption of active fluid.In this investigation,the performance of an ejector has been improved by changing the exit shear plane of the nozzle.Conventionally,conical nozzles are used for creating the required momentum.Lobes of 4 no’s,6 no’s and 8 numbers for an equivalent area ratio=5.88 are used to increase the shear area.The influence of shear plane variation in the suction pressure is studied by a detailed CFD analysis.