Hyperion Campaign (Archived)
Hyperion-I is ASPEN’s first engine modeling a solid-core nuclear thermal rocket engine using an inductively heated, additively manufactured metallic core. An overarching view of the development campaign for Hyperion-1 includes three Phases of modeling and hardware testing. Experimental data from each phase will be compared to corresponding linked multiphysics models in ANSYS. Three test articles, starting with a single tube and ending with a full printed core, will be tested with gaseous nitrogen while in an inductive heating environment used to model the nuclear fission that occurs in true solid-core nuclear thermal engines.
PHASE I
Fall 2019
PHASE II
Spring 2021 -Spring 2024
PHASE III
Fall 2024
Current Updates
Recently we have installed a new mass flow meter into our test stand to verify the flow values in our Phase 2 simulations. We have also moved from combusion heating to tape heating to increase the temperature of the test article in hopes of yeilding more accuate results. We hope to complete a new round of testing on our phase 2 article this spring.