[AR] Re: Thrust Chamber Manufacture
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2020 13:16:44 -0400 (EDT)
On Mon, 10 Aug 2020, Jonathan Adams wrote:
How would one, particularly on an amateur scale go about manufacturing the
thrust chamber for a small liquid-propellant rocket engine?
I was wondering this because it seems like a difficult component to
manufacture, as a longer combustion chamber would be difficult to machine
via CNC turning or a similar process due to complications with removing
shrapnel from inside the chamber as it is being machined.
Bear in mind that the chamber doesn't have to be one piece! Especially if
you use film cooling or ablative, it's perfectly reasonable to assemble it
out of an injector, a cylindrical chamber, a throat assembly, and a
conical nozzle, each machined separately.
People made successful rocket engines before CNC.
Segmented construction would also simplify design changes, which are
inevitable. Your development process will be a lot less painful if you
accept that the first version probably won't work, and that you must plan
for, and design for, easy changes and debugging and repairs.
(The Gossamer Condor won the Kremer Prize for man-powered aircraft, where
many other attempts had failed, not because it had ultra-clever design or
ultra-advanced materials or anything like that, but because damage that
would ground one of its ultra-high-tech competitors for months was an
overnight repair for G.C. That made testing much less nerve-racking, and
design iteration enormously easier and faster.)
Henry
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