The rocket nozzle is a crucial and complicated part of a rocket, primarily for rocket RX320. Its function is to control the exhaust flow, so the rocket gets the maximum possible forward thrust. However, graphite materials are used inside rockets due to good mechanical properties and high melting temperature resistance. This study discussed the effect of post-static rocket fire testing on the mechanical properties of graphite materials and compared them with the technical data sheet (TDS) of its graphite. Mechanical properties testing has been done to determine the average flexural strength value with the flexural test method and the average value of the compressive test. The graphite has an average flexural test value of 40.185 MPa, with an average elastic modulus of 0.656 GPa. Furthermore, the average compressive test of graphite has a value of 67.71 MPa, with an average load of 1,560 N. The mechanical properties trends are slightly decreasing due to post static fire testing compared to TDS. It was around 41.2% for flexural strength and 50.7% for compressive strength.
This study discussed the modifications made to the Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion (VARI) method to make composites. Composites made using the standard VARI method sometimes have values that have not reached the desired standard. In addition, there was a modification to add Gelcoat and mesh peel ply from previous studies that used e-glass fiber and epoxy resin, which positively affected the mechanical properties of the composite. In this study, carbon twill material was used, which is relatively better in mechanical properties than e-glass fiber and vinyl ester resin with different viscosity from epoxy. The finite element simulation was also performed to compare the load versus displacement graph with the testing. The tensile test results of the VARI with double mesh peel ply increased by 1.61%, while VARI with the addition of gelcoat increased 4.34% from the composite with the standard method of 527.62 MPa. The tensile test results of the VARI with double mesh peel ply decreased 17.20%, while the VARI with the addition of gelcoat decreased 30.24% from the composite with the standard method of 29.97 MPa.
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