Three-dimensional, additive printing has emerged as an exciting new technology for the design and manufacture of small spacecraft systems. Using 3-D printed thermoplastic materials, hybrid rocket fuel grains can be printed with nearly any cross-sectional shape, and embedded cavities are easily achieved. Applying this technology to print fuel materials directly into a CubeSat frame results in an efficient, cost-effective alternative to existing CubeSat propulsion systems. Different 3-D printed materials and geometries were evaluated for their performance as propellants and as structural elements. Prototype "thrust columns" with embedded fuel ports were printed from a combination of acrylonitrile utadiene styrene (ABS) and VeroClear, a photopolymer substitute for acrylic. Gaseous oxygen was used as the oxidizer for hot-fire testing of prototype thrusters in ambient and vacuum conditions. Hot-fire testing in ambient and vacuum conditions on nine test articles with a combined total of 25 s burn time demonstrated performance repeatability. Vacuum specific impulse was measured at over 167 s and maximum thrust of individual thrust columns at 9.5 N. The expected ΔV to be provided by the four thrust columns of the consumable structure is approximately 37 m/s. With further development and testing, it is expected that the consumable structure has the potential to provide a much-needed propulsive solution within the CubeSat community with further applications for other small satellites.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-8388 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| Creators | Chamberlain, Britany L. |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. |
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