In the Fall of 2018, the team began the Helios engine project. Helios is a pressure-fed bi-propellant liquid engine designed to produce 350lbf and is fed with diluted Ethanol & LOX by an accompanying test stand. Helios's two main goals are to:
- Understand basic engine design principles by building a simple engine.
- Learn how to efficiently and safely test high-pressure engines by building a pressurized feed stand.
We built the test stand, integrated the chamber assembly onto the test stand, and conducted leak testing in Nov 2023. Successfully fired on May 16th, 2024!
Specifications:
Heat-sink cooled
Pressure-fed, gN2
Chamber pressure @ 500 psi
Made out of 1018C Steel
360 lbf thrust, 5 second burn
Chamber diameter: 3.157 in
Throat diameter: 0.789
Expansion ratio: 5.82
L* : 40.83 in
Yield strength: 370 MPa
MEOP: 7.48 MPa
Design Review:
Milestones:
Nov 4: We setup our test stand at our test site in Maine for the first time.
Nov 11: We conducted switchbox tests, leak tests, igniter tests, and data acquisition system tests at our test site.
Current Status:
As of Fall 2020, the Helios test stand (shown below) remains in the basement of MIT's Building 37. Work on the stand and accompanying engine is expected to resume in Spring 2020.
The main goals of the Helios Project are as follows:
- Develop a robust test stand to be used for current and future engine projects
- Design a simple engine to exercise basic liquid engine design principles
Design Review
The Helios design review linked below gives a great overview of the test stand and engine design, but is a bit outdated in terms of project progress and more recent design changes.
Milestones
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