Further Experimental Study of a Hypergolically-Ignited Liquid-Liquid Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine

Abstract

An experimental study of a hypergolically-ignited liquid-liquid rotating detonation rocket engine is presented. The combustion chamber is annular, 3.7 inches in outer diameter, 3.6 inches in length, and operates using a propellant mixture of hydrogen peroxide and trigylme, with a sodium borohydride slug used for hypergolic ignition. Prior test results on this platform showed single wave rotating detonations in select cases, with the bulk of the experiments showing "slapping mode" behavior. Recent results indicate that the slapping mode seems to be anchored at the two fuel injection locations in the inlet manifold. Data from recent tests is presented herein. In addition, a thermodynamic model for assessing performance of liquid-liquid RDE systems is presented.