High-Temperature Materials Testing using a Hybrid Rocket Testbed

Dustin Scott Birch

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Aerospace Division (AERO) Technical Session 4
Tagged Division: Aerospace Division (AERO)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47529

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Paper Authors

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Dustin Scott Birch Weber State University orcid.org/0000-0003-4066-2802

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Dustin Birch is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at Weber State University. Dr. Birch earned his PhD in Systems Engineering from Colorado State University. He also earned a BS and MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah. In addition to his academic experience, Dr. Birch has worked for several decades as an engineer and manager for various companies. His experience includes thermal and structural analysis of aerospace propulsion systems, mechanical design, and failure prediction and analysis of materials. Dr. Birch is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Utah.

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Abstract

The Concept Hybrid Rocket Demonstrator (CHRD), originally developed as a Senior Capstone design project in the Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) programs at Weber State University (WSU), has been modified into an experimental testbed used in high temperature materials rapid screening testing. This high temperature materials research is being directed by the WSU affiliated Miller Advanced Research and Solutions (MARS) center.

Consistent with the typical operational characteristics of a hybrid rocket, the CHRD system utilizes a solid fuel grain and fluid type oxidizer. The solid fuel grain is composed of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic produced using simple 3D printing approaches and the oxidizer is gaseous Nitrous Oxide (N2O). As a result of the conversion into a high temperature testing system, the baseline CHRD system, as developed in the senior project series, has undergone modifications and upgrades to develop it into a testbed used to evaluate experimental high temperature materials produced by at MARS on behalf of industrial partners. Of specific interest in the initial phase of the project, were the testing of various Carbon-based additive manufacturing (CBAM) produced converging-diverging (CD) rocket nozzles. Rocket nozzle materials are typically exposed to severe environments of elevated temperature gas flowing at sonic speeds in the nozzle throat developing to supersonic speeds at the nozzle exit, thus they are excellent candidates for high temperature durability experimentation.

Utilizing a team of newly graduated ME and MET students as well as student intern research assistants, the original basic rocket system was modified into an experimental testbed supporting high temperature materials research and numerous CBAM nozzles were produced for evaluation. Phase I of this effort included the addition of a comprehensive instrumentation suite to measure rocket operational parameters for correlation to post-test evaluation of composite nozzle test articles and production of rapid prototype composite nozzles. Numerous test firings were conducted to evaluate both testbed performance and material behavior when exposed to combustion product flow field.

Promising results from Phase I were realized such that additional funding has been committed for a Phase II effort. This new phase of activity will encompass upgrades and experimental qualifications of the rocket testbed operation, instrumentation, and control system. Follow-on materials testing will be conducted for both additional nozzle sections and planar impingement specimens fabricated using various composite fabrication techniques. Phase II will again employ recent graduates and undergraduate research assistants to plan and implement the experimental upgrades.

Citation
Format

Birch, D. S. (2024, June), High-Temperature Materials Testing using a Hybrid Rocket Testbed Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47529

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The Concept Hybrid Rocket Demonstrator (CHRD), originally developed as a Senior Capstone design project in the Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) programs at Weber State University (WSU), has been modified into an experimental testbed used in high temperature materials rapid screening testing.  This high temperature materials research is being directed by the WSU affiliated Miller Advanced Research and Solutions (MARS) center.

Consistent with the typical operational characteristics of a hybrid rocket, the CHRD system utilizes a solid fuel grain and fluid type oxidizer.  The solid fuel grain is composed of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic produced using simple 3D printing approaches and the oxidizer is gaseous Nitrous Oxide (N2O).  As a result of the conversion into a high temperature testing system, the baseline CHRD system, as developed in the senior project series, has undergone modifications and upgrades to develop it into a testbed used to evaluate experimental high temperature materials produced by at MARS on behalf of industrial partners.  Of specific interest in the initial phase of the project, were the testing of various Carbon-based additive manufacturing (CBAM) produced converging-diverging (CD) rocket nozzles.  Rocket nozzle materials are typically exposed to severe environments of elevated temperature gas flowing at sonic speeds in the nozzle throat developing to supersonic speeds at the nozzle exit, thus they are excellent candidates for high temperature durability experimentation.

Utilizing a team of newly graduated ME and MET students as well as student intern research assistants, the original basic rocket system was modified into an experimental testbed supporting high temperature materials research and numerous CBAM nozzles were produced for evaluation.  Phase I of this effort included the addition of a comprehensive instrumentation suite to measure rocket operational parameters for correlation to post-test evaluation of composite nozzle test articles and production of rapid prototype composite nozzles.  Numerous test firings were conducted to evaluate both testbed performance and material behavior when exposed to combustion product flow field.

Promising results from Phase I were realized such that additional funding has been committed for a Phase II effort.  This new phase of activity will encompass upgrades and experimental qualifications of the rocket testbed operation, instrumentation, and control system.  Follow-on materials testing will be conducted for both additional nozzle sections and planar impingement specimens fabricated using various composite fabrication techniques.  Phase II will again employ recent graduates and undergraduate research assistants to plan and implement the experimental upgrades.


AU  - Dustin Scott Birch
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - High-Temperature Materials Testing using a Hybrid Rocket Testbed
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47529
ER  -