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:
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We built the test stand, integrated the chamber assembly onto the test stand, and conducted leak testing in Nov 2023. We are finalizing our testing procedures and aim to hot fire soon!
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
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
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The Helios design review linked below gives a great overview of the test stand and engine design, but is a bit outdated in terms of project progress and more recent design changes.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:
Nov 4: We setup our test stand at our test site in Maine for the first time.
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