Project
Pulse rocket

Construction

• 1/2" Schedule 40 PVC pipe and fittings were used to make this rocket which operated on a series of four powerful pulses. A disc of brass shim stock .002" thick was inserted between the two halves of a PVC union. On one side of the union was a mixture of powdered sugar, Kno3 and sulphur contained by a PVC cap. An electronic igniter went through the cap and lit the mixture causing an immediate build-up of pressure to the point where the brass rupture disc would blow. The resulting pulse was extremely powerful. When testing these engines underwater in a 55 gallon drum, one pulse engine lifted the drum up in the air along with all the water in it. The combined weighed of the drum and the water was over 400 lbs. Four of these engines were assembled in a foam frustum with the rocket body made out of wire and foam.

Pros

• The thrust was immediate and very powerful.
• A very efficient use of energy with great potential.
• Lightweight.

Cons

• Acceleration is very high.
• Empty engines are carried up with the rocket in the rocket body, a waste of energy.
• Getting all four engines to fire at the exact same time was very changeling.
• Engines do occasionally fail to blow the rupture disc and blow up in the rocket body.

Pictures

• The completed pulse engine.
• A set of four pulse engines with copper pipe strap acting as a terminal strip.
• The completed pulse rocket engine section with frustum and capacitors to assist in ignition.
• Me next to the completed pulse rocket in the desert. The PVC tube was used as a launch tube but the initial force of ignition on the rocket caused it to compress and expand around the middle, dragging on the inside of the pipe.
• Pulse engine test in 55 gallon drum filled with water.
• Pulse rocket launch.
• One engine that did not fire on launch is lit after the rocket is recovered.
• Another pulse rocket launch.

Video

• None

CAD Drawings

• None