Rocket Engine on a Student Budget

A technical project alongside the University courses can deepen the understanding and increase the motivation for the subject of choice. As a student, there is often a hurdle to start such a project because of a lack of inspiration. And even after overcoming this, the costs associated with such a project may put students off. With my project I show how a 3rd semester Mechanical Engineering student can design and manufacture a rocket engine with all testing components on a student budget. Cost structure and resource planning are explained in detail. I launched the project in December 2020 and in September 2021 it was presented at the StuFoExpo21. A general curiosity for the topic and a basic understanding of mechanical engineering was sufficient for starting the project. Importantly, I gained the most valuable knowledge during the implementation of the project, through active failure-iteration and reading specialised literature. The project is focussed on the design and manufacturing of a rocket engine and its testing components. A special feature is the cooling jacket of the combustion chamber. It has been 3D printed in the SLUB Makerspace, a facility at TU Dresden. Further work packages of the project were the programming of sensors and control systems, first open-air combustion tests of the injector head, safety checks and a Risk & Safety analysis. The first testing and other preliminary work were performed in collaboration with fellow students. During the entire design and manufacturing process I was in continuous exchange with the research group “Space Transportation” of the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at TU Dresden. Special thanks go to Dipl.-Ing. Jan Sieder-Katzmann and Dipl.-Ing. Maximilian Buchholz for their help during this process. For 2022 I plan a test campaign of the rocket engine to collect sensor data and to perform engine thrust measurements.