Testing Rocket Grain Mixture and Designs with Sucrose Propellant
Document Type
Poster
Campus where you would like to present
Ellensburg
Event Website
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source
Start Date
18-5-2020
Abstract
A solid rocket motor is composed of a cylinder full of fuel which typically has a hollow core. After being ignited with a fuse, the fuel at the surface of the hollow core burns and produces hot gas that is released through the nozzle of the rocket in order to produce force. The surface area of the burning propellant affects the thrust force and pressure output of the motors; the more fuel that burns at one time, the more thrust and pressure is produced. The purpose of this project was to investigate the effect of surface area on thrust and pressure. In order to accomplish this, a safe technique was devised and carried out in order to make motors with potassium nitrate and sucrose propellant. Four different surface areas were tested, each with different geometric shapes of propellant, which is called the propellant grain. The motors were tested on a thrust table, which is an apparatus that measures the pressure and thrust output while the motor is burning. Sixty percent of the tested motors had a short burn time that averaged 0.5s. Due to the collection rate of data, the short burn time resulted in minimal data points. As a result, the project pivoted towards creating grains that burn for longer by reducing the oxidizer to fuel ratio from 65:35 to 60:40 and investigating more efficient ways to mix the fuel.
Recommended Citation
Adkisson, Kourtney, "Testing Rocket Grain Mixture and Designs with Sucrose Propellant" (2020). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 85.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2020/COTS/85
Department/Program
Physics
Additional Mentoring Department
https://cwu.studentopportunitycenter.com/2020/04/testing-rocket-grain-mixture-and-designs-with-sucrose-propellant/
Adkisson Poster
Additional Files
Adkisson Testing Rocket Grain Mixture and Designs with Sucrose Propellant.pdf (1306 kB)Adkisson Poster
Testing Rocket Grain Mixture and Designs with Sucrose Propellant
Ellensburg
A solid rocket motor is composed of a cylinder full of fuel which typically has a hollow core. After being ignited with a fuse, the fuel at the surface of the hollow core burns and produces hot gas that is released through the nozzle of the rocket in order to produce force. The surface area of the burning propellant affects the thrust force and pressure output of the motors; the more fuel that burns at one time, the more thrust and pressure is produced. The purpose of this project was to investigate the effect of surface area on thrust and pressure. In order to accomplish this, a safe technique was devised and carried out in order to make motors with potassium nitrate and sucrose propellant. Four different surface areas were tested, each with different geometric shapes of propellant, which is called the propellant grain. The motors were tested on a thrust table, which is an apparatus that measures the pressure and thrust output while the motor is burning. Sixty percent of the tested motors had a short burn time that averaged 0.5s. Due to the collection rate of data, the short burn time resulted in minimal data points. As a result, the project pivoted towards creating grains that burn for longer by reducing the oxidizer to fuel ratio from 65:35 to 60:40 and investigating more efficient ways to mix the fuel.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2020/COTS/85
Faculty Mentor(s)
Darci Snowden