No abstract

No abstract

The adoption of the hybrid design for large rocket motors has been hindered by the slow regression rate associated with classical hybrid fuels and consequentially, the requirement for complex, multiport fuel grains. High regression rate hybrid fuels (e.g. paraffin) enable simple, single port hybrid propulsion systems for a variety of applications including launch vehicles, solar system exploration and space tourism. The mechanism responsible for the increased regression rate of these fuels is still not fully understood. Therefore, an apparatus has been constructed at Stanford University to visualize the combustion of high regression rate hybrid fuels in order to compare it with the predicted mechanism. It consists of a flow conditioning system and combustion chamber with three windows. The combustion is captured using two high-speed video cameras for both top and side views. The behavior of paraffin-based fuel is compared to that of classical hybrid fuels. Both the experimental design and results of seven tests with five hybrid fuels and gaseous oxygen are presented. Results of two additional tests are included for increased detail. The results are consistent with the droplet entrainment mechanism generally used to explain the high regression rates exhibited by paraffin-based fuels.

No abstract

No abstract