Tiber Designs

One of three Mechanical Engineering Propulsion capstones this semester known as Tiber Designs has a lot on their plate. "We are working on two projects in conjunction: Janus, a liquid-propellant rocket engine; and Test Cell 3, a liquid rocket testing facility capable of testing engines with one cryogenic propellant and up to 3,000 pounds of thrust output," said Rachel Riley, a member of the Tiber Designs team.

The project has two main goals: 1) conduct the first successful hot-fire test of a liquid rocket engine on the Embry-Riddle campus and 2) develop a permanent, enclosed testing facility for liquid rocket engines. The team is hoping to qualify Janus as the flight vehicle. Regarding the permanent testing facility for liquid rocket engines, the teams hopes to demonstrate consistency in testing, improve testing efficiency, ensure compatibility with future projects, and train future rocket teams on test cell use.

After over 4,600 combined hours of work, the team has successfully constructed Test Cell 3 and conducted over 20 cold-flow tests. Janus is also mostly manufactured and will be ready for hot-fire testing by early May of this year. Test Cell 3 has ensured the tests can be frequent and accurate. "In previous years, liquid rocket testing took many days to complete because the supporting infrastructure needed to be built and taken down for every test. In Test Cell 3, tests take approximately 4 hours and multiple tests can be run during that time," said Riley.

Tiber Designs has too many acknowledgements to make in just a few sentences, but would especially like to thank Dr. Elliot Bryner for his guidance and mentorship on the project. “We also thank our myriad financial sponsors and mentors from both ERAU and industry,” said Riley.

Credit: Horizons Newspaper