SUMMARY
I applied engineering principles to the design of a rocket with the aim of reaching an altitude of 10,000ft per IREC guidelines.

My role was to lead the Airframe team, and support Flight Dynamics.

MODEL ROCKET

GOALS

Objectives were distilled from the IREC manual: IREC 2020 Rules and Requirements Document

BACKGROUND

This is a generic flight path for a model rocket. During the launch phase, the solid propellant is ignited, pressure builds in the motor casing, and the rocket is launched upwards from the vertical position at the same as hot gas produced by the propellent burning is ejected. The next phase, powered ascent, is characterized by the continued burning of fuel, and by introduction of aerodynamic forces lift and drag. Once the motor is shut off, the rocket enters the next phase, coasting flight, during which time it can be treated like a projectile. The first half of the flight path, when the rocket is reaching its maximum height of hopefully 10,000ft, is where we are concerned about flight stability.

Gravity, the dominating force after motor shut-off, causes the rocket to trace an arc as it reaches its maximum altitude then returns to ground level, hopefully with its descent slowed by some recovery system.

FLIGHT SIMULATION
Simulations were all conducted using OpenRocket Simulator.

A model of the rocket was built by inputting dimensions, relative positions, and masses given by the entire IREC 2020 team.

After motor selection, a flight simulation was run using this model, and taking into account conditions at the New Mexico launch site.


The target apogee is met according to the OpenRocket simulation, assuming perfect launch conditions, and that all values provided by other subteams is accurate. A payload of 20lbs was used instead of the IREC requirement of 8.8lbs to account for any additional components that may be introduced by changes in sub-team designs.