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Review of Scientific Instruments / Volume 79 / Issue 10 / INVITED ARTICLE

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 101301 (2008); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2982492 (7 pages)

Invited Article: Time accurate mass flow measurements of solid-fueled systems

Jordan D. Olliges1, Taylor C. Lilly1, Thomas B. Joslyn2, and Andrew D. Ketsdever2

1Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
2Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, USA

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(Received 31 January 2008; accepted 17 August 2008; published online 7 October 2008)

A novel diagnostic method is described that utilizes a thrust stand mass balance (TSMB) to directly measure time-accurate mass flow from a solid-fuel thruster. The accuracy of the TSMB mass flow measurement technique was demonstrated in three ways including the use of an idealized numerical simulation, verifying a fluid mass calibration with high-speed digital photography, and by measuring mass loss in more than 30 hybrid rocket motor firings. Dynamic response of the mass balance was assessed through weight calibration and used to derive spring, damping, and mass moment of inertia coefficients for the TSMB. These dynamic coefficients were used to determine the mass flow rate and total mass loss within an acrylic and gaseous oxygen hybrid rocket motor firing. Intentional variations in the oxygen flow rate resulted in corresponding variations in the total propellant mass flow as expected. The TSMB was optimized to determine mass losses of up to 2.5 g and measured total mass loss to within 2.5% of that calculated by a NIST-calibrated digital scale. Using this method, a mass flow resolution of 0.0011 g/s or 2% of the average mass flow in this study has been achieved.

© 2008 American Institute of Physics

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
  3. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND METHODS
  4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
  5. CONCLUSION

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

aerospace propulsion, digital photography, electric motors, flow measurement, propellers, rockets

PACS

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2982492

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0034-6748 (print)  
1089-7623 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

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