Friday, October 24, 2014

Propellant testing (Dextrose, Sorbitol, Erythritol)

I've had a hard time finding time to post, but the good news is that I have been finding little bits of time here and there to continue working on rocket stuff.  I went through and organized my garage/work space a while back which was good.  I also when through my bins, range box, the stuff I haul out to a lunch and organized, took stock, and replenished on the things that I was out of.  I also recently rebuilt a laptop and geared it towards rocketry so that all of the design, drawing, spreadsheets, photos, etc are centrally located.  I have made a new motor case to use with my 2.375" motor to test Dextrose with.  The motor was originally designed as an 8 segment KNER  (erythritol based propellant).  That test cato'd half way through the burn.  I do still want to redo that test, but this time with a stepped core. After that test I reduced the segments to 6 and it was successfully flown, though the recovery left a little something to be desired.  The motor got so hot that the while floating down on the parachute the lower half of the aeroshell (made of heavy cardboard) caught fire.  It eventually fell away from the 'chute and came in ballistic.  Fortunatly that nozzle didn't sustain any damage.   Any way, the next time I manage to get out to FAR, I plan to fire this motor as a 4 segment and as a 6 segment motor, with some luck I may get the 8 segment motor ready as well. 
 
 

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