In recent years we are seeing exponential growth in the space sector, with new companies emerging in it. On top of that more people are becoming fascinated to participate in the aerospace revolution, which motivates students and hobbyists to build more High Powered and Sounding Rockets. However, rocketry is still a very inaccessible field, with high knowledge of entry-level and concrete terms. To make it more accessible, people need an active community with flexible, easy-to-use, and well-documented tools. RocketPy is a software solution created to address all those issues, solving the trajectory simulation for High-Power rockets being built on top of SciPy and the Python Scientific Environment. The code allows for a sophisticated 6 degrees of freedom simulation of a rocket's flight trajectory, including high fidelity variable mass effects as well as descent under parachutes. All of this is packaged into an architecture that facilitates complex simulations, such as multi-stage rockets, design and trajectory optimization, and dispersion analysis. In this work, the flexibility and usability of RocketPy are indicated in three example simulations: a basic trajectory simulation, a dynamic stability analysis, and a Monte Carlo dispersion simulation. The code structure and the main implemented methods are also presented.
The basic design of a rocket engine injector and combustion chamber for saturated nitrous oxide and liquid ethanol is presented. At first, an oxidant-fuel mixture is selected based on a thermochemical analysis that explores several existing options and other combinations that have not yet been studied. As a result, nitrous oxide is chosen as an oxidant and ethanol as fuel. Then a simplified methodology is proposed for the design of a pressure-swirl injector responsible for ethanol. Computational fluid dynamics is used to verify the validity of the above-mentioned analysis, using Volume of Fluid (VOF). For the nitrous oxide injector, the flash-boiling phenomenon is investigated, verifying its importance for the ongoing project. The effect is treated analytically using the Dyer model to account for non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Simplified zero-dimensional and one-dimensional combustion models are explored as tools to design the rocket combustion chamber. Furthermore, combustion instability due to acoustic phenomena is studied, with the first spinning tangential mode being computed for the herein developed motor and an ensemble of acoustic cavities being developed to suppress the aforementioned mode. Finally, a diagram of the static test bench which will be used to validate the injectors and the designed engine is also presented.
This report presents the basic design of a rocket engine injector and combustion chamber for saturated nitrous oxide and liquid ethanol, as well as details of the construction and operation of the engine in which the injectors will be used. At first, an oxidant-fuel mixture is selected based on a thermochemical analysis that explores several existing options and other combinations that have not yet been studied. As a result, nitrous oxide is chosen as an oxidant and ethanol as fuel. Then a simplified methodology is proposed for the design of a pressure-swirl injector responsible for ethanol. Computational fluid dynamics is used to verify the validity of the above-mentioned analysis, using Volume of Fluid (VOF). For the nitrous oxide injector, the flash-boiling phenomenon is investigated, verifying its importance for the ongoing project. The effect is treated analytically using the Dyer model to account for non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Simplified zero-dimensional and one-dimensional combustion models are explored as tools to design the rocket combustion chamber. Furthermore, combustion instability due to acoustic phenomena is studied, with the first spinning tangential mode being computed for the herein developed motor and an ensemble of acoustic cavities being developed to suppress the aforementioned mode. Finally, a preliminary diagram of the static test bench which will be used to validate the injectors and the designed engine is also presented.
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