DAQ Destroyer Hybrid Rocket

Student Team: Travis Edwards, Viggo Hansen,

Tom Slais, Clayton Chu, Michal Hughes, Guoshi Li,
Gerard Finnegan, Tim Ip, Andrew Hatt, Ben Degang

Faculty Advisors: Carl Knowlen, Adam Bruckner,
James Hermanson, Tom Mattick

University of Washington
7th Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition, Green
River, UT, (June 21-23, 2012)
Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, Logan, UT
ESRA has permission to distribute
Introduction
Continuation of AA598/AA498 sounding
rocket course
Program goal to develop a paraffin-N2O
hybrid rocket motor
Design and Rationale
Minimum diameter
Modular upper airframe and fin can
connect to oxidizer tank and combustion
chamber
Scaled with estimated propellant load
required to reach 25k ft AGL

Design and Rationale
Custom Paraffin-N2O hybrid motor
Inspired by recent advancements in
hybrid propulsion
Rocket design scaled based on
estimated motor performance
Payloads
Iridium spot II satellite locator
Downward facing GoPro camera


Hybrid Fuel Regression Rates
Traditional hybrid fuels(HTPB) have low regression rates,
solid fuel is pyrolyzed directly to a gaseous phase limiting
heat transfer
Paraffin fuel droplets are directly entrained from a liquid
layer


a n
Paraffin-N2O Karabeyoglu [1] 0.155 0.5
50P-N2O T.S. Lee and H.L. Tsai [2] 0.1146 0.5036
HTPB-N2O Lohner et al. [3] 0.104 0.352
= Regression rate [mm/s]
G
ox
= Oxidizer mass flux [kg/m
2
sec]
a = Regression rate coefficient [non-
dimensional]
n = Oxidizer mass flux exponent [non-
dimensional]

Systems Design, Analysis,
and Testing

Liquid N
2
O Injector
17-4PH Stainless Steel (62 mm
O.D. x 6.4 mm thick)
Straight hole reamed orifices (11-
15 holes x 2 mm dia.)
1.5kg/s LN
2
O mass flow
Coefficient of discharge 0.85
Ignition System
2.4 mm thick polycarbonate diaphragm (burst P > 6.9 MPa)
Custom pyrotechnic fixed to hydrostatically pre-domed
diaphragm
KClO
4
(60%) + GEII Silicone (20%) + 3 m Al (20%)
Experimental regression rate: 25 mm/s
Pyrotechnic ruptures diaphragm and ignites rocket motor
Avionics
Entirely student-designed and built
avionics package, powered by Arduino
Array of sensors and communications
Redundant avionics and recovery
system
Wireless connectivity between main
avionics bay and combustion chamber
Sensor Package
Accelerometer detects launch and coast
Magnetometer detects rocket tipping
(apogee)
Gyroscope
Barometric Pressure detects altitude for
main chute deployment
Oxidizer Tank Pressure
Combustion Chamber Pressure
GPS
Communications Package
Xbee-XSC 900 MHz 14mi range
Communication to ground station
Xbee-Pro 2.4GHz short range
Communication to combustion chamber
Arduino
SIM Card
Send texts messages of detected events; GPS
location
UART
Access panel allows USB connection to rocket
Recovery
Dual Rouse Tech CD3s deploy drogue
Main chute retained in deployment bag
by tether
Tether released at appropriate altitude,
deploying the main
Major Tests and Results

Propulsion
7 full scale motor test firings
Specialized diagnostics employed
Gas Chromatography of motor exhaust
Flash X-ray of combustion chamber
Spectral analysis of combustion instabilities
Major development issues:
Fuel grain integrity/composition
Fuel manufacturing/case bonding
Combustion chamber scaling (L*)
Chamber thermal protection

Full Scale Test Summary
Test
#
Fuel composition Design/Test changes Result Notes
1 Paraffin/ CB/HTPB, pour
cast
Combustor
explosion
Igniter
detonated
2 Paraffin/ CB/HTPB, pour
cast
Reduced igniter mass Low thrust Suspected
sloughing
3 Paraffin/ CB/HTPB, pour
cast
Nozzle throat dia reduced Low thrust


4 Paraffin/ CB/HTPB, pour
cast
None, demo at 6
th
IREC Low thrust


5 Paraffin/ CB/HTPB/ AL,
pour cast
Injector pressure drop
reduced, X-ray, ablative
liners installed
Low thrust

Fuel grain
failure mid burn
6 Paraffin/ CB/EAP, spun
cast (Cracked grain)

L* increased, bell nozzle
implemented, GC installed,
DAQ system replaced
DAQ failure
after 35 ms
7 Paraffin/ Tar, spun cast
(No cracks)
DAQ system replaced again Design thrust
reached
DAQ failure
after 1.9 s

Test #3
Abrupt change in thrust mid burn
Sloughing and or flame holding
instability suspected

Test #5
150 kV flash X-ray system install
Combustor design modified
Increased fuel loading
Modified pre-combustor
Injector area increased
-Ablative phenolic liners installed



Test # 5 Flash X-Ray
averaged regression rates
2.3 mm/s preburn vs. postburn
With simulated oxidizer mass flux model
and Stanford regression rate
coefficients(a = 0.155 n = 0.5) averaged
regression rate is 2.7 mm/s

Fuel Development Revisited
Sensitive manufacturing process
Spin casting appears to be required
Additives required for structural integrity:
HTPB, Ethylene-vinyl acetate, Vybar 103,
Tar
IR opaque additives used to increase
heat transfer to fuel surface:
Carbon black, Tar
Fuel Development Revisited
Pour casting of paraffin/HTBP mixtures
possible with advanced process control
[2]
Spin casting of paraffin with HTPB
causes stratification
Carbon black will stratify in paraffin at >
420 rpm
Tar remains mixed with paraffin at higher
rpm (820)
Test #6
Fuel grain spun cast with Ethylene-vinyl
acetate and tar
Fuel grain cracked during mfg but
remained case bonded
Gas Chromatography Sample station
installed
Combustor L* increased from 4.3 to 6.8 m
Bell nozzle designed with method of
characteristics installed
Characteristic Combustor Length L*
L* is the ratio of average combustor volume
to nozzle throat area.
L* is related to residence time in the
combustion chamber.
Without a sufficiently large L* there will be
incomplete combustion.
Hybrid motors require ~10 times the L* of a
liquid bipropellant rocket for acceptable
combustion efficiency [1]
Lengthened combustion chamber
High regression rate fuel favors short fuel grain
Increased L* from lengthened post combustor
L* = 6.8 m
L* = 4.3m
Test #6
DAQ system crashed 35 ms after
ignition
Initial data showed high performance
Flash X-ray failed to trigger
Gas chromatography sample station
was triggered at an unknown time


Gas Chromatography Sample
Analyzed with flame ionization and
thermal conductivity detectors
CO/CO2 ratio allows estimate of O/F
ratio via correlation with chemical
equilibrium(NASA CEA) simulation
Test #6 chromatogram
Test #6 GC results
16% CO, 7% CO2, and 11% H2
detected
Detected CO/CO2 ratio corresponds to
an O/F of 6.7 according to CEA
Close to optimum O/F ratio for nitrous
oxide paraffin of 7

Test #7
DAQ system replaced
Fuel grain cracks resolved with 10% tar
additive
All other test conditions held constant
Test #7
Test #7 results
Laptop free fall protection disabled the
hard drive after 1.9 seconds
Target chamber pressure and thrust
reached (400 psi, 800 lbf)
Combustion instability
Design thrust reached
Flash X-ray triggered as planned 3
seconds after ignition
GC sample failed to trigger

Test # 7 results
Cracks observed in fuel grain after
ignition however remained case bonded
Fuel composition regressed at a rate
105% predicted with Stanford regression
rate coefficients and calculated oxidizer
mass flow rate
Instantaneous ISP estimated 220-230
seconds

Significant combustion instability observed
Spectral analysis of load cell data showed
the first two longitudinal acoustic modes
Low frequency modes consistent with
intrinsic low frequency instabilities of the
hybrid combustion process and/or feed
system coupled instabilities
Test #7 Combustion Instability
Final Design Summary

Hybrid propulsion system validated
Initial thrust sufficient to safely leave the
launch rail with a stability margin of 2
calibers
Open source sensor suite and camera
included to observe propulsion system

Special thanks:
Aerojet/Gencorp Foundation
David Stechmann
Aero-Astro, Chemistry, Physics and
Mechanical Engineering Machine Shops


Acknowledgements
Questions ?
Team Website: www.sarpuw.org
References:
[1] Karabeyoglu, M.A., Zilliac, G., Castellucci, P., Urbanczyk, P., Stevens, J.,
Inalhan, G., and Cantwell, B.J. Development of High-Burning-Rate Hybrid-Rocket-
Fuel Flight Demonstrators 39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion
Conference, Huntsville, AL, July 2003.

[2] T.S. Lee and H.L. Tsai, Fuel Regression Rate in a Paraffin-HTPB Nitrous Oxide
Hybrid Rocket, 7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion, National Taiwan
University, Taipei, Taiwan, 24-27 May, 2009

[3] Kevin Lohner et al., Fuel Regression Rate Characterization Using a Laboratory
Scale Nitrous Oxide Hybrid Propulsion System, AIAA-2006-4671, 2006.

Contact Email: contact@sarpuw.org