Odyssey Engine

History

The Odyssey hybrid rocket engine began development in Fall of 2020 with a group primarily Freshman and Sophomores. This group eventually led the development of all the hybrid/liquid rocket testing infrastructure for the ERAU Daytona Beach campus. The engine underwent its first successful test fire on October 6th 2023.

Why a hybrid?

At the start of the project, we had no infrastructure, no location to test, and a very very small budget. To us, a hybrid was the cheapest way to get our foot in the door given the environment this project grew in. Other projects within our club were developing liquid bi-prop engines leading to a small demand for an additional liquid engine. Given all external forces, a hybrid engine balanced demand, cost, and feasibility for the underclassman project leads.

Engine Specs

The specs of the engine are shown below. Sorry for the mixed units. You know how it goes.

The engine is centered around an HTPB fuel grain casted within a phenolic canvas liner acting as an insulator. The engine features a swirl injector made from aluminum 6061 which has seen survivability after the initial 13 second test fire. The nozzle is ablative made from graphite and designed using Rao’s method.

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Notes on the Nozzle

The nozzle showed very little ablation after the initial test fire of the engine to the point where reuse can be considered. A professional 3D scan of the nozzle is underway with the goal of quantifying the overall amount of ablation that occurred during the test fire. The nozzle is held in place using a steel nozzle retainer.

Fuel Grain Geometry

The HTPB fuel grain consists of a simple cylindrical port geometry with a truncated cone at the head of the chamber. This truncated cone is meant to allow the swirl to develop outside the injector before contacting the fuel surface.

This area also serves as the location of the rocket candy igniter. The igniter is molded into the shape of the evacuated volume. The igniter is documented further Igniter

Our HTPB mixing method is detailed Fuel Grain Casting Method (HTPB)