Thrust Vectoring Toroidal Aerospike

Poster Image
Thrust Vectoring Toroidal Aerospike Poster
Poster Session
D
Poster Number
08
Project Author(s)
Noah Cayson, Brandon Foose
Institution
Oregon Institute of Technology | OSGC Undergraduate Team Experience Award
Project Description

The Oregon Tech Rocketry and Aerospace club, supported in part through NASA/Oregon Space Grant Consortium grant NNX15AJ14H, investigated the feasibility of controllable thrust-vectoring on an aerospike. The inherent altitude compensating abilities of an aerospike nozzle makes it a promising alternative to the traditional bell nozzle, although toroidal aerospikes lack a method of thrust vectoring. A traditional, toroidal aerospike was designed, in addition to a thrust vectoring aerospike with controllable compound nozzles integrated at the throat to produce thrust vectors. The designs of both aerospikes were preliminarily validated through a computational fluid dynamics study. For testing, a low-pressure chamber was designed to test the aerospikes at two different pressures to verify the altitude compensating characteristics of the nozzle. The nozzles were to be cold fired with compressed air, so a schlieren system was developed and tested to record and then analyze the results. Unfortunately, the project was brought to an abrupt halt before testing could be completed due to COVID-19. All design and analysis were completed, the only remaining portions of the project were hands-on fabrication and testing. Since access to the labs has resumed, the project team has begun working toward performing a test of the aerospike before the end of the year. Additionally, a new senior project team has taken up the project, looking to improve upon the systems in place and move the project through a successful test of a controllable thrust vectoring aerospike.