2021-2022 Structures Engineer, competition rocket for Spaceport America Cup
For our 2021-2022 Spaceport America Cup (SAC) competition rocket, we built Coach 30k, designed with an entirely in-house manufactured carbon fiber airframe, dual-recovery system, and a commercial class O solid motor. I was on the structures subteam, responsible for the design, analysis, and manufacturing of all structural components for the rocket. Despite a CATO test flight 2 months before the competition (due to improper seating of an O-ring spacer in the motor casing), the rocket was ultimately launched to approximately 21,000 feet, placing 69th out of 152 teams.
Design
Using Solidworks and OnShape CAD software, I designed the avionics bay sled to house all electronics, ejection charges for the recovery system, and mechanisms for mounting into the avionics body tube. We also conducted FEA on the bulkheads to ensure they could withstand the ejection forces.
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- Avionics Sled
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- FEA on Bulkhead
Manufacturing
All rocket components were manufactured in-house except the motor, flight computers, and coupler tubes. We conducted all composite manufacturing using by-hand layups for the body tubes, nosecone, and fins. The nosecone used a custom-made fiberglass female mold to create our desired half-power series profile, and the fins had a laser-cut plywood core with two-ply carbon fiber laminations. For RF transparency, the avionics section was a fiberglass tube, while the rest of the body tubes and nosecone were carbon fiber. Following each layup, I post-processed the components to ensure proper dimensioning and integration.
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- Power tube CF layup
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- Vacuum-bag processing
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- Nosecone mold
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- Fins after lamination
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- Avionics tube post-processing
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- Nosecone inside female mold
All internal components were machined from aluminum or steel using both manual and CNC techniques. I machined steel components for the payload section, a muon-detection experiment, as well as processed aluminum bulkheads for the avionics sled. I am machine shop certified on the manual mill and lathe.
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- Operating mill
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- Steel payload components
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- Assembled avionics sled
After our CATO test launch, we scrambled to gather resources in order to rebuild the rocket before the end of the school year and before SAC (under 2 weeks). While it was the most challenging engineering problem I had ever faced, it was equally as rewarding for me and the team to finally see it fly in June.
Check out my most current work on Duke AERO as Payload lead.
