Choosing the right material for a rocket engine can be a bit of a challenge, especially when big players like NASA & SpaceX are using exotic materials such as Narloy-Z and Niobium alloys. We'd like to give you a run down of what we did for the Gizzard-1 Engine to perform analysis. You can download … Continue reading Material Selection
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This time with better info. So we experimented with pintile placement using a simple system just to get some initial data. In order to avoid things like combustion instability and to allow for film cooling, achieving a good fuel mixture is critical for the success of our project. Our first one has a clear gap … Continue reading More From Mixture
Two quick takes from a mixture test of our injector design.
But still fun. Here's a slow pan of the redesigned flight rocket. https://youtu.be/YmAoEE-PN4Q
So I spent some time re-inventing the wheel to create a light weight simple recovery mechanism. This model is missing a few elements, but basically our proposed recovery mechanism works as follows: A single actuator moves a pin through a tab mounted securely to the central pin. On the far side of the motion the … Continue reading A Simple Recovery Mechanism
In the past year, our oxidizer and fuel system has moved through six major revisions. Driving forces for change have included updated engine requirements, changes in fuel selection, safety concerns, as well as improvements compiled from team suggestions. Humble beginnings: Concept Sketch Our initial engineering sketch of the fuel system was used extensively to explain … Continue reading Fuel System Evolution
Here are some pretty pictures. The first is a mockup of a model I'm currently running CFD on to assess if and how a nosecone modeled on a Kingfisher beak might reduce our pressure drag. Japan Railways Group modeled their latest bullet trains off of this beak and saw some pretty impressive results which you … Continue reading Pretty Picture Time
