Feasibility study of additive manufacturing techniques applicable to resistojet propulsion systems

Feasibility study of additive manufacturing techniques applicable to resistojet propulsion systems

Bourgois, Justin (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering)

Jyoti, B.V.S. (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Aerospace Engineering | Space Flight

2023-01-19

The use of additive manufacturing (AM) can potentially offer significant benefits to the design and performance of resistojet components but has so far only seen limited research in this application. The goal of this study was to investigate the possibility of 3D printing a functional resistojet heating chamber and the potential benefits that this brings, by using an existing water resistojet as a reference design. To achieve these objectives a prototype chamber was designed, manufactured and tested, while in parallel a numerical model was developed to predict the performance of future designs. The tests were successful in demonstrating the functionality of the AM heating chamber, which allowed the thruster to produce up to 17.3 mN of thrust. However, the results did not allow for the validation of the numerical model, thus preventing its use as a tool to investigate the benefits of using AM for resistojet heating chambers.

additive manufacturing
Resistojet
3D printed
Space propulsion

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ad1ee77b-f3de-4c36-9c59-4d4f584db37b

Student theses

master thesis

© 2023 Justin Bourgois