The evolution of additive manufacturing over the past 30 years has given engineers the ability to manufacture parts from designs that could not have been conceived before its inception. This evolution has greatly affected the capabilities and expanded the bounds of the rocket propulsion industry. Researchers at the United States Naval Academy Rocket Propulsion Program sought to develop the concepts and theory necessary to design and manufacture a hybrid grain engine capable of increasing overall thrust and regression rate, while reducing instability in hybrid rocket motors. The design must also be created to conform to additive manufacturing capabilities, and these design considerations will be discussed. In order to further analyze the performance of the hybrid rocket motors, researchers cultivated a new, solid fuel geometry in order to increase the area of the exposed surfaces while also positively affecting the flow of the liquid fuel in order to improve burn performance. A unique, helical grain design was created that requires the use of additive manufacturing. Without the use of additive manufacturing, such designs would not be possible. Analysis will be done to determine how changing only the pitch of the swirl in the rocket motors will affect the overall performance of each engine. Computational fluid dynamics analysis using Solidworks, visual flow testing, regression analysis and design parameters of the grain will also be explained to support the conclusion that additive manufacturing is able to improve hybrid rocket motor performance.
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