Design and Test of a Lab-scale N2o/htpb Hybrid Rocket

The MaCH-SR1 project involved the design of a 1000lb thrust hybrid rocket with the effort being undertaken during two semesters by 8 senior aerospace engineering students at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The 2002-2003 team was the second year for the project, as the previous team built two static engines and performed test burns on both. The hybrid implemented a liquid O2/HTPB oxidizer/fuel combination, but this year’s team switched to a N2O/HTPB combination due to the oxidizer’s simplicity and safety. Four lab-scale chambers were constructed and hot-fired in order to determine the fuel regression rate, data acquisition, and to verify the overall design for the 1000-lb thrust hybrid rocket chamber. The full-scale rocket is to be test fired in the spring of 2003 and data will be obtained for the thrust, chamber and feed pressures, and the instantaneous oxidizer mass flow rate. The lab-scale portion of the project resulted in a well-documented design and test program, which laid the foundation for future teams to build larger and more powerful engines, leading to the eventual goal of CU’s first student built sounding rocket.