Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Design and Test of a Student Hybrid Rocket Engine with an External Carbon Fiber Composite Structure

Version 1 : Received: 14 April 2020 / Approved: 15 April 2020 / Online: 15 April 2020 (05:10:53 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Abstract

The development of hybrid rockets offers excellent opportunities for the practical education of students at universities due to a high safety and a relatively low complexity of the rocket propulsion system. During the German educational program STERN, students of the Technische Universität Braunschweig obtain the possibility to design and launch a sounding rocket with a hybrid engine. The design of engine HYDRA 4X is presented and results of first engine tests are discussed. Results for measured regression rates are compared to results from literature. Furthermore, the impact of the lightweight casing material CFRP on the hybrid engine mass and flight apogee altitude is examined for rockets with different total impulse classes (10 to 50 kNs). It is shown that the benefit of a lightweight casing material on engine mass decreases with an increasing total impulse. However, a higher gain on apogee altitude, especially for bigger rockets with a comparable high total impulse is shown.

Keywords

hybrid rocket engine; sounding rocket; carbon fiber composite; engine test; total impulse; lightweight design

Subject

Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

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