Diode laser ignition of a poly(Methyl methacrylate) and gaseous oxygen hybrid motor

David M. Dyrda, Flora S. Mechentel, Brian J. Cantwell, Ashley C. Karp, Jason Rabinovitch, Elizabeth T. Jens

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The performance of a diode laser igniter as a restart-capable device has been assessed for single-port, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/gaseous oxygen (GOX) hybrid motors. For this testing a prototype version of the igniter has been designed and implemented as a substitute to a traditional methane/GOX torch ignition system. Ignition tests have been conducted at atmospheric ambient conditions using an experimental single-port motor setup. Using three PMMA fuel grains, a total of 46 successful motor ignitions and restarts were achieved. These tests were conducted using a single multimode diode laser with an output power of 10.84Wand a nominal pulse length of 1 s. In addition, a total of 24 successful ignitions and restarts were demonstrated in a vacuum chamber with the same prototype igniter on a flight-scalePMMA/GOXmotor under development for smallsat applications. The ignition transient is compared against baseline results from a torch ignition system for atmospheric tests, and the ignition delay performance is considered across all tests.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)773-782
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Propulsion and Power
Volume36
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

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