Tiny Rocket: Bipropellant Rocket Thruster

For this project, I designed and manufactured a thrust chamber assembly (LOX/IPA) to be fired on a test stand in the Cal Poly Propulsion Lab. The goal was to generate 5lbf of thrust for a few seconds and design the combustion chamber/nozzle to optimize mixing.

O-rings were used to separate the flow of the oxygen and isopropyl. The injector plate impingement angle, as well as the combustion chamber pressure, nozzle divergence, and nozzle expansion ratio were all crucial design parameters that I was able to use Rocket Propulsion analysis to optimize.

Through this project, I accomplished the following:

  • Designed, built, and successfully fired a 5lbf bipropellant rocket thruster

  • Utilized Rocket Propulsion Analysis (RPA) software to optimize key parameters

  • Developed a detailed CAD model of the manifold, injector, chamber, and nozzle

  • Used continuity, Bernoulli’s equation, and Reynolds number analysis to ensure turbulence and predict flow behavior