Patent ID: 7216594

Claim:
A solid fuel nozzle tip, comprising: a first ceramic shell having an inlet end adapted to interconnect to a solid fuel nozzle and receive a flow of solid fuel from the interconnected solid fuel nozzle, an outlet end distanced from the inlet end, and a chamber having a peripheral wall defining a first passageway for directing the received flow of solid fuel from the inlet end to the outlet end of the first ceramic shell; a second ceramic shell having an inlet end adapted to interconnect to the outlet end of the first ceramic shell and receive the flow of solid fuel from the interconnected outlet end of the first ceramic shell, an outlet end distanced from the inlet end of the second ceramic shell, and a chamber having a peripheral wall defining a second passageway for directing the received flow of solid fuel from the inlet end to the outlet end of the second ceramic shell, wherein the outlet end of the first ceramic shell and the inlet end of the second ceramic shell are adapted to be interconnected by a dovetail joint formed by the peripheral walls of the chambers of the first and the second ceramic shells, and the dovetail joint restrains movement of the second ceramic shell with respect to the first ceramic shell in a first direction, the outlet end of the first ceramic shell is defined by an end surface and the inlet end of the second ceramic shell is defined by an end surface; a first hole extending from the end surface of the outlet end of the first ceramic shell into the peripheral wall of the chamber of the first ceramic shell; and a second hole extending from the end surface of the inlet end of the second ceramic shell into the peripheral wall of the chamber of the second ceramic shell; wherein the outlet end of the first ceramic shell and the inlet end of the second ceramic shell are adapted to be interconnected such that the first and the second holes align; wherein the first and the second holes are adapted for insertion of a connector to restrain movement of the second ceramic shell with respect to the first ceramic shell in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction.