Combustion Chamber Ver1.0
Used December 2003 to ......
The combustion chamber is made from 2.35" diameter 6061 T6 aluminum.
Aluminum was chosen because the eventual liquid oxygen flight motor will need to be as light as possible and would be more desirable if it could be made with an easily machinable and weldable inexpensive material such as 6061.
If there are issues with degradation of strength due to thermal effects during motor operation we will be able to start to identify these on the smaller lab scale version.
The initial combustion chamber design uses a double flange arrangement with o-ring seals to contain the internal pressure. The flanges are TIG welded on using 5356 filler rod.
The forward and aft bulkheads are held in place with 8 (M6) metric fasteners.
A safety analysis will be done on the pressure vessel, bolted connections, and welds with a minimum acceptable factor of safety of 2.