FURI | Spring 2019

Vortex Flow Pancake Hybrid Pancake Engine

Hybrid rocket engines offer the following advantages over other rocket propulsion methods; ease of storing oxidizer, throttling capability, and reignition capability. A single fuel disk configuration of an end-burning vortex flow pancake motor is considered in this research to optimize the solid fuel regression rate. This design features a fuel slab of hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene encased in the combustion chamber with tangential injection of the oxidizing liquid nitrous oxide. An experimental apparatus was designed to verify fluid simulations and compare the solid fuel regression rate of this configuration to other hybrid rocket engines.