Study on a Rotary-Valved Four-Cylinder Pulse Detonation Rocket : Thrust Measurement by Ground Test

Abstract

Thrust measurement experiment was carried out using a four-cylinder pulse detonation rocket engine (PDRE) with a rotary valve. The PDRE uses three types of gases, oxidizer, fuel, and purge gas to generate detonation wave intermittently and produces thrust. A rotary valve attached coaxially to a motor for supplying these three gases intermittently was used. The mechanism of the rotary valve is very simple. It is built up with a top cover, a rotating disk, and a casing, and has advantage to enable high mass flow rate and high frequency operation. In this study, pulse detonation rocket (PDR) for flight tests was developed. Thrust measurement experiment by grand test was carried out to check the performance of the this PDR. The oxidizer was N2O, the fuel was C2H4, and the purge gas was He. In the operation time for 1500 msec with C2H4-N2O propellant, we achieved time-averaged thrust of 256 N and specific impulse of 130.8 sec.