Regression behavior of polylactic acid manufactured by fused filament fabrication for hybrid rocket propulsion

Abstract

Advanced closed-loop control of thrust and mixture ratio of hybrid rockets is planned by combing a fuel mass flow rate control technique with a real-time fuel regression measurement. The latter technique is enabled by a multi-materialadditive-manufactured solid fuel with an integrated sensor probe structure. This work investigated the fuel regression behavior of polylactic acid (PLA) fuel used for the main material of this type of solid fuels. Rectangular slab fuels and cylindrical fuel grains were manufactured by Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) and fired in an optically accessible slab burner and a lab-scale motor, respectively. The cylindrical fuel grains had more than 2 times larger regression rates than rectangular slab fuels even with the same PLA filament. One of the main factors causing this large difference can be an anisotropy in the fuel regression rate behavior of the solid fuels manufactured by FFF.