Development and manufacture of mono and bi-propellant injectors for low thrust thrusters produced through the process of solid state diffusion soldering

• Grant number: 03/06878-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: October 01, 2004
• End date: March 31, 2007
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Aerospace Engineering
• Principal Investigator: José Nivaldo Hinckel
• Grantee: José Nivaldo Hinckel
• Company: Diprofil Forjamento Rotativo Ltda. - ME
• City: Osasco

Abstract

Recent advances in the development of apogee motors installed in artificial satellites have created an ever greater demand for highly reliable, low weight bi-propellant injectors with reduced energy consumption. Since such components are produced by refined machining processes and electro-erosion, creating a complex network of interconnected cuts and cavities crucial to their functional performance, distortions, obstructions and any sort of plastic deformation stemming from the conventional soldering process must be avoided. This project is aimed at the development and manufacture of these injectors, which consist of three plates produced from a nickel-based superalloy (Inconel 600). When soldered together, they make up two independent internal circuits, into which anhydrous hydrazine is injected into the fuel circuit and nitrous tetroxide into the combustion circuit. These fluids, when they combine, produce a spontaneous reaction thus producing the burn which initiates the functioning of the motor and generates a thrust capable of stabilizing the entire satellite and dislocating it from an elliptical orbit into a circumferential orbit. This soldering technology, besides being promising for aerospace application, can also be used in medical implants and in the automobile industry. To date, no devices with such flight qualified characteristics exist in the national market. (AU)