Patent ID: 11952965
Assignee: LABORATOIRE REACTION DYNAMICS INC.
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  B | IPC B  F

Claim 10:
11. A rocket engine comprising a combustion chamber extending along a longitudinal axis and having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet fluidly connectable to a source of an oxidizer, the outlet in fluid communication with an environment outside the combustion chamber for expelling combustion gases, a solid fuel within the combustion chamber, the solid fuel having a face configured to, in use, be exposed to the oxidizer, the inlet being axially offset from the face and located axially between the face of the solid fuel and the outlet relative to the longitudinal axis, the solid fuel having a rheological property varying therethrough along a regression direction being parallel to the longitudinal axis, the solid fuel having a plurality of layers including a first layer and a second layer axially offset from one another, an axial end face of the solid fuel exposed to the oxidizer being defined by the first layer in a first phase of the solid fuel and being defined by the second layer in a second phase of the solid fuel, the first layer being burned in the second phase, the first layer and the second layer differing by the rheological property such that a first mass flow rate of combustion gases generated by the solid fuel in the first phase is equal to a second mass flow rate of combustion gases generated by the solid fuel in the second phase while a mass flow rate of the oxidizer in the combustion chamber is constant throughout the first phase and the second phase.