BlazingAngel665
Propulsion Lead, Agile Space Industries
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 87
- Reaction score
- 3
I've used 4F black powder for all my time in this hobby, but I'm working with a team on a high altitude rocket, and we're looking into a pyrotechnic gas-generator feeding a pneumatic piston for a deployment system, similar to Derek Deville's excellent Qu8k.
Cleaning out the piston after every firing is a drag, and as an engineering student I'm inclined to assume that we can spend money and find an aerospace grade (overpriced and overperforming) solution to the problem. We do have an LEUP, so we can consider a wide range of materials.
We're looking at Black Powder as a baseline material, but we're also considering nitrocellulose. We've eliminated sodium azide (too toxic), and APCP (thermal issues).
Has anyone used anything other than black powder? Does anyone have any advice to share on the subject?
Cleaning out the piston after every firing is a drag, and as an engineering student I'm inclined to assume that we can spend money and find an aerospace grade (overpriced and overperforming) solution to the problem. We do have an LEUP, so we can consider a wide range of materials.
We're looking at Black Powder as a baseline material, but we're also considering nitrocellulose. We've eliminated sodium azide (too toxic), and APCP (thermal issues).
Has anyone used anything other than black powder? Does anyone have any advice to share on the subject?