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Article
Journal of the KSAS 2026; 54(1): 73-88.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5139/JKSAS.2026.54.1.73
Comprehensive Review of Development Trends in Bipropellant Thrusters
이원추진제 추력기 개발 동향에 대한 종합적 검토
C. Y. Oh, H. D. Jung, S. H. Lee and K. B. Ahn
오창영, 정하동, 이승현, 안규복
Chungbuk National University
충북대학교
Abstract
The technological evolution of injectors and combustion chambers that govern the performance of bipropellant thrusters is systematically reviewed, and publicly available international data are integrated to derive quantitative trends in specific impulse and dry mass. The structural characteristics and application cases of impinging, biswirl coaxial, and pintle injectors are summarized. The progression of combustion‑chamber materials from molybdenum to niobium, rhenium, and platinum‑based alloys is traced, and key limitations are compared, including coating delamination in niobium, life degradation caused by rhenium diffusion toward iridium, and the relatively lower temperature ceiling of platinum systems. Based on a dataset of 41 bipropellant thrusters, linear regression was performed; the mass–thrust relationship was found to be predictable within ± 20% error, while the specific‑impulse–nozzle‑expansion‑ratio relationship attained predictive accuracy on the order of ± 10%. These results are expected to provide empirical baselines for setting initial specific‑impulse and mass targets in the preliminary design of domestic 1 ~ 1000 N class bipropellant thrusters.
Keywords
Bipropellant Thruster, Combustion Chamber, Dry Mass, Injector, Specific Impulse
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