• Citer

Investigation of additive manufacturing techniques for paraffin-based fuel grains

par Gelain, Riccardo ;Hauw, Adrien;Bardotti, Emilien;Hendrick, Patrick
Référence Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics International Congress(26th: 2021: Pisa, Italy)
Publication Publié, 2021

Publication dans des actes

• Accès en ligne
• Détails
• Contenu
• Statistiques

Résumé :

Hybrid rocket motors (HRMs) present numerous advantages when compared to other chemical rocket propulsion systems, mainly safety, reliability, and cost. Conventional solid fuels suffer from a low regression rate and poor combustion efficiency, drawbacks that restrained further developments and exploitation of the technology.Two methods are being used to enhance the performance of HRMs, that are the employment of liquefying fuels, such as paraffin wax, which guarantee a high regression rate, and more recently the exploitation of 3D printing to develop complex burning surfaces and turbulence patterns in the combustion chamber to enhance regression rate and mixing of the propellants.A higher performance could potentially be achieved combining the two methods, that is the additive manufacturing of paraffin-based fuel grains. The necessity for a suitable print system and a dedicated temperature control to manage the fast phase transition of the wax makes the 3D printing of this material hard to achieve.This paper presents the first steps conducted at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) towards the creation of an additive manufacturing system for paraffin wax. After the first experiments with the material to assess its printability, three promising manufacturing techniques have been identified and activities are being carried out to research and design the 3D printing setup. To sum up, this paper describes the methods and instrumentation under development at ULB to achieve the manufacturability of paraffin.