The Design of a Hybrid Rocket Engine
Date
2014-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kazuo Inamori School of Engineering at Alfred University
Abstract
In this thesis a hybrid rocket engine will be designed and built to experimentally test
different materials which can be used for fuel. Hybrid rockets contain both a solid propellant
such as hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) or paraffin wax and a gaseous oxidizer such
as liquid oxygen (o2). The most recent research has been using Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
(ABS) as the solid propellant. The advantages of using ABS plastic are that it produces a thrust
comparable to other propellants, it is affordable, and it can be three dimensionally printed to
transform into any shape. Disadvantages of using ABS are its low melting point, causing a lower
thrust, and it burns faster than traditional hybrid rocket propellants. Due to its low melting point
and faster burn rates, an experiment was conducted where ABS and aluminum nanoparticle
flakes were combined to solve this problem. A small scale hybrid rocket stand was designed in
Solidworks™ and then built. The next step was to discover a method that would make the
combined ABS and aluminum nanoparticles into a shape that could be used in the 3D printer. A
filament extruder was then designed and built. ABS was dissolved with acetone and mixed with
aluminum to become a plastic/metal propellant for the hybrid rocket. Once that plastic/metal
material was bound together, it was then able to undergo heat and pressure in the filament
extruder to become a 1.75 millimeter in diameter string that could be 3D printed. Once this
plastic/metal material is able to be 3D printed, the aluminum will achieve higher melting
temperatures producing greater thrust values.
Description
Advisory committee members: Ehsan Ghotbi, Joseph Kirkland. Dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the Inamori School of Engineering at Alfred University
Type
Thesis