Getting a liquid fuel engine through its first ground burn takes a stand that can hold the whole thing steady while it runs. That is the problem this project tackles: UBC Rocket put together a static test stand for a liquid fuel rocket engine and hot fired it, making the team the first Canadian student team to do that.
The setup itself is a serious piece of hardware. The engine burns liquid oxygen and kerosene, and it sits inside a black rectangular steel frame cage. Around it there are plumbing lines, manifolds and hoses, plus vertical high-pressure gas cylinders secured to the frame. Yellow ratchet straps bearing the label 'ERICKSON' anchor the metal rig, sandbags sit alongside it, and large concrete retaining blocks stand next to the right side. The stand carries the name DARK STAR, chosen in honor of DarkVision.
On numbers: the initial thrust goal was 9.8kN to 10.1kN, and the engine delivered 10kN of thrust at 300psi chamber pressure, in line with predictions. After the run, the target shifted to 17kN based on recent simulations.
The firing sequence is dramatic. White vapor vented from the nozzle right at the start, then a large fire and fireball engulfed the stand. Once that subsided, flame burned briefly around the engine mount, and intermittent venting with hissing sounds followed afterward. Then, near the end, a loud bang and a rupture occurred at the rig.
That rupture is the open part of the story for me. It seems fair to ask how well fabric straps hold up near a plume, and the question of whether the restraints sat in the direct line of plume heat sounds worth answering before another attempt.
Project by UBC Rocket. Watch it on their YouTube channel: