Staging in High Powered Rocketry Presenters: Mai Vo, Carson Dobbs - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Staging in High Powered Rocketry

Presenters: Mai Vo, Carson Dobbs Authors: Carson Coursey, Mai Vo, Carson Dobbs

October 25th, 2018

What is staging?

1/16

Why use multiple stages?

• Makes rocket more efficient
• Gets rid of inert mass
• Saves fuel
• Makes rocket able to go higher
• Without the extra mass, rocket is able to go further
• Use the fueled saved to go higher
• It’s cool

2/16

Types of Staging

Inline Staging (Single Sustainer)

• Vertically stacked boosters and sustainer
• Each booster is discarded after motor burnout

Parallel Staging (Single Sustainer)

• Similar to Air Starting
• Boosters are externally attached to the sustainer
• Each booster separates from the sustainer after its motor burns out

Parasite Staging (Multiple Sustainers)

• Similar to Air Starting
• Sustainers are externally attached to the booster
• Each sustainer separates after booster burn out

3/16

Inline Staging

• Used in most projects of this type, as well as

projects at the highest level: Saturn V, F9, etc.

• Staging type we’ll most likely go with
• It’s the most common for HPR
• It’s the most applicable for our objective
• Nobody has said anything about a different type
• f staging

4/16

Difficulties of Staging

• 2 of Everything
• (ignitions, separations, recovery devices,... rockets)
• Separation
• Structure required
• Separation implement
• Timing
• Ignition
• Air start
• Delay
• Altitude calculations

5/16

Phases of Staged Flight

• 1. Booster Ignition - Typical
• 2. Booster Ascent - Typical, more complex
• 3. Coast + Separation - New
• 4. Sustainer Ignition - New
• 5. Sustainer Flight - Typical
• 6. Recovery - Typical, more complex

6/16

Image and info from UAH SHC rocketry report

Separation - Required Components

• Interstage Structure
• Coupler
• Black powder charge/CO2 Can
• Shear pins
• Possible avionics bay in the interstage
• Some sort of nozzle cap or “Piston” that comes off during

sustainer ignition

7/16

Separation Solutions

• UAH - 3D Printed Interstage w/ shear pins
• Blue is interstage structure ejected via

black powder

• White “piston” comes off during sustainer

ignition

• Red is boat tail fairing, attached to centering

rings

8/16

Separation Solutions 2

• Princeton - Aluminum Interstage
• Highly load bearing
• Slip fit to sustainer motor
• Seemingly ejection by sustainer

ignition

9/16

Ignition - Air Start

• Possible Failures:
• Stage ignition failure
• Late stage ignition
• Coupler malfunction
• Early, late or no deployment
• Difficulties
• Not on launch rail
• Electronic Accuracy
• Ignition delay (later slides)

10/16

Ignition - Air Start

• Required Hardware
• Standard avionics hardware (battery, accelerometer, computer,

timer)

• Ignition hardware (e-match, motor igniter)
• Solutions
• Most projects seemed to not have much info on how to air start
• Simple timed ignition from the avionics
• Most likely varies based on design choices, altitudes, etc.

11/16

Ignition - Altitude Calculation

• Closely tied to Ignition Delay
• Time the sustainer ignition so that high velocity is maintained

for a vertical flight.

• Ignition at too low of a velocity will cause the sustainer to

drift and ignite the motor in a non-vertical direction. Velocity starts decreasing upon stage separation, so the sooner ignition begins, the straighter the sustainer will fly.

• However, if coast is prolonged, the sustainer is able to reach

higher altitudes.

12/16

Ignition - Delay

• How long the sustainer coasts before

ignition will have a measurable effect on

• ur apogee
• There is a sweet spot that can be

determined by running simulations (RASAero, etc) to achieve 30,000 ft

• All that would need to be changed to

put in the correct time would be the code/timer

13/16

Useful Links

• http://space.uah.edu/assets/files/manuscript_Hunter_04267

.pdf

• http://rocket.gtorg.gatech.edu/files/slides/Staging_Clusterin

g_and_Complexity.pdf

• http://s605282183.onlinehome.us/wp-content/uploads/201

6/01/Staging-Air-Starting.pdf

• https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/need-help-with-hi

gh-powered-staging.57697/

14/16

Useful Links

• https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/so-maybe-ill-try-a-

three-stager.66850/

• http://www.spaceportrocketry.org/Motor%20Staging.html

15/16

16/16

The End.