{"id":17615,"date":"2020-12-15T17:44:12","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T09:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ancient-art-of-origami-provides-a-pathway-for-building-a-better-tank-for-rocket-fuel\/"},"modified":"2020-12-15T17:44:12","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T09:44:12","slug":"ancient-art-of-origami-provides-a-pathway-for-building-a-better-tank-for-rocket-fuel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ancient-art-of-origami-provides-a-pathway-for-building-a-better-tank-for-rocket-fuel\/","title":{"rendered":"Ancient art of origami provides a pathway for building a better tank for rocket fuel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Origami
A plastic bladder folded into an origami shape can stand up to cryogenic temperatures. (WSU Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Build a better fuel tank, and the space industry will beat a path to your door. At least that\u2019s what Washington State University researchers are hoping after they harnessed the ancient art of origami to develop a foldable fuel bladder that stands up to cryogenic temperatures.<\/p>\n

Graduate student Kjell Westra, engineering professor Jake Leachman and their colleagues at WSU\u2019s Hydrogen Properties for Energy Research Laboratory, or HYPER Lab, describe their design in the journal Cryogenics. Their research addresses a longstanding challenge in rocket science: How can you store and pump super-chilled propellants like liquid hydrogen more efficiently?<\/p>\n

\u201cFolks have been trying to make bags for rocket fuel for a long time,\u201d Leachman said today in a news release. \u201cWe currently don\u2019t do large, long-duration trips because we can\u2019t store fuel long enough in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the early days of the space effort, engineers tried to develop balloon-style bladders for managing the storage and flow of liquid hydrogen, Unfortunately, such bladders were prone to shatter or leak when they were squeezed. The hardiest designs could survive only five cycles of squeezing and relaxing.<\/p>\n

Current systems use metal plates and surface tension to manage fuels, but researchers are still searching for more efficient systems.<\/p>\n

When the WSU researchers looked through the literature, they came across research that described the development of a bellows that took advantage of origami, the Japanese art of paper-folding. The research discussed applications relating to medical stents, or even deployable solar sails for spaceflight \u2014 but Westra and his colleagues adapted the design for rocket fuel bladders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best solutions are the ones that are already ready-made and that you can then transfer to what you\u2019re working on,\u201d Westra explained.<\/p>\n