University of Florida Hybrid Rocket Teams Mile High Club PDR Presentation Brought to you by Sam, Chris, Travis, Alex, Ty, and Josh.

University of Florida Hybrid Rocket Team’s Mile High Club

PDR PresentationBrought to you by

Sam, Chris, Travis, Alex, Ty, and Josh

Major Change Since Proposal

• Change of Material: Only basalt fiber and epoxy will be used to construct the body tube of the rocket, instead of the four different types of composite materials mentioned in the proposal.

• Consequentially Only strain measurements of a basalt body tube will be measured.

• Notes on Basalt:1. Limited use in U.S. aerospace

applications2. Slightly higher elastic modulus

than fiberglass3. Much higher operating

temperature than fiberglass4. Slightly denser than fiberglass5. About the same cost as fiberglass

Vehicle Design

Vehicle Dimensions

Flight Plan (Vehicle Perspective)

Launch to Apogee

Apogee to Chute DeploymentChute Deployment

to Ground

Motor

• Primary motor J1999

• Possible Alternates K1100, J800

Thrust Curve

Vehicle Materials/Manufacturing

• Airframe Construction

Vehicle Materials/Manufacturing

• Fins

• Tip to Tip Reinforcement

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-d_tN5NNPM

1:05

Recovery System Design Layout

• Ejection Charges• Recovery wadding• Parachute• Parachute Chords

Specifics

Pyrodex based ejection charges Recovery wadding: to be determined

through testing Parachute chord: to be determined through

testing Parachute: 27” X-Form for deployed

terminal velocity of about 10 mph

Mission Performance Predictions

• Used RockSim to determine the weight of the rocket to reach slightly above 5,280 and also stay underneath Mach 1.

• Simulations: Apogee at 5,870 feet. Max Velocity at 670 ft/sec• More simulations will be run before and after test launches to

optimize performance

Vehicle Safety and Stability• Stability Margin is 1.37• Testing Dates:

– January 6th-13th : Initial Recovery System Testing– January 16th: Subscale Launch Test– March 6th: Full scale Launch Test

Initial Recovery System Testing

Ejection Charge Initial estimate of powder needed made using

charge calculator Charge made to estimated specs testing in

test rig. Observe and record results. Repeat as necessary until desired ejection is

acheived.

Subscale and Full scale Tests

• The Subscale Launch Test will test a half scale model of the full scale rocket. It will use a G125 motor from Aerotech.

• Primary objectives: to assess the functionality of the recovery system, the accelerometers and pressure system, and the stability of the rocket design.

• The Full scale Launch Test will test the actual rocket to be used in the competition.

• Primary objectives: To check that all systems are correctly functioning, and if necessary, which systems need to be altered to achieve the desired function. To check if redesigning parameters of the rocket, such as the weight, is necessary.

Payload• 20 strain gages located in the payload section of the rocket• Will measure both the lateral strain and axial strain of the basalt fiber body tube as a

function of distance along the body tube and time of experiment.• Hopefully the data acquired from this experiment will help in the optimization of rocket

airframe design.

Drag Force Drag Force

Thrust Thrust

Payload test section

Payload• RockSim simulation of drag force versus time• We expect our strain measurements to mirror the shape

of the drag force graph below

Payload Integration

• The strain gages will be located in the payload section of the body tube

• They will be isolated from both ejection charges with solid couplers

Inner tube contains altimeters, data logger, accelerometers, and other electronics

Strain gages located on the inside of the body tube

Payload Testing• By February 20, 2010• Elastic behavior of basalt fiber will be analyzed with load cells and strain gages in the

Mechanics of Materials Laboratory at UF.• A small test section of basalt fiber will be constructed and brought into the lab to

measure the strain experienced under axial compressive loading.

Omega corner rosettes

Goals

• Implement strain gauges• Build data logger• Fly Rocket

Proposed Rocket Layout

• Removable electronics module• Survivable at high g's during

launch 

Onboard Controller

Prelaunch

• Rocket will talk with computer and verify link• Rocket will wait impatiently for the launch• Rocket will record to SD card all channels to SD card

at 1Hz• Rocket will send all data to base station at 1Hz

Launch to Apogee

• Rocket will record all channels to SD card at high data rate 100Hz

• Rocket will send data to the base station at 1 Hz• Rocket may turn yellow

Apogee

• Rocket will sense apogee to deploy chutes according to preset altitude/time constraints

• Rocket will continue to log data 

Landing

• If still intact and in range the rocket will log data at 1Hz

• Rocket will continually send GPS location• Rocket will transmit flight log to ground station for

processing

Conclusion

• More analysis to be done on strain calculations and how our data can benefit the design of rocket airframes

• Parts for initial recovery system testing and subscale rocket construction need to be ordered as soon as possible