Design of bottom clay in sugar rocket to get more height

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Matt_Benett

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I am new to rocketry. I have been experimenting with KNO3+Sugar with medium success (no explosions, but also nothing over 100meters high).

I am using the King of Random concept. My current design is as per the left image. I think most of my issue has been that the clay in the bottom bursts out, so I now rough up the pipe on the inside a little to give it grip. But should I also countersink/flange (not sure of the correct term) it a little?

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thanks
Matt
 
Hi Matt,

You're not going to get help like that here. Due to the liability issues that your question involves, that question belongs in the "Advanced Research Topics" subforum, and you need to qualify to be admitted to there. This is for your own safety, for the safety of others, and the hobby.

To qualify, you need to meet these conditions (and as an Aussie, I don't think you'll be able to join (unless you're American born)).

Research Forum Access

TRF now hosts a restricted forum related to Research Motors. Requirements for access are:

1) NAR or TRA senior member
2) US Person (US Citizen or US Permanent Resident (Green Card Holder))
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To request access to the forum, please send an email to [email protected], (or use CONTACT US or contact mod or admin) including
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Please allow up to a week for access to be granted -- we're all volunteers and things come up.

Please do not include scans of identification cards (driver's license, passport, etc)

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cool, thanks for your help.

(not American)
Matt

No problem. If you want to talk about commercial motor recommendations, building rockets (not the motors, but the airframe), simulating designs, etc., we'll be happy to help.

Try contacting your local (or national) clubs to see if they've got a place for you to discuss your motor building experiments safely.

Pointy Side Up!
Jim
 
K'Tesh, ITAR rules have one additional requirement to 2) in your list; you must be a U.S. citizen AND actually be in the U.S. U.S. citizens on foreign soil are in violation of ITAR if they possess ITAR restricted information without the proper approvals. This includes having physical paperwork or drawings, hard drives on computers, zip drives as well as accessing electronic information from outside the U.S.

So K'Tesh, if you have access to the research forum you may be in violation of ITAR if you access it from China. I say you may be as it depends on what you look at on that sub forum.
 
Matt, what state are you in? The Australian Model Rocket Society has clubs in several states.

I also started with a randomizer a little over a year ago (with commercial Estes motors) and then joined the Qld Rocketry Society after asking questions not unlike yours.

Rocket motor development is actually illegal in AU as far as I am aware. The QRS guys put me onto a better path.

In the last year I’ve flown LPR kits, LPR scratch builds, MPR clones and am now HPR L1 certified and wandering my way slowly to L2...

There’s plenty of fun to have and heaps to learn without making your own motors...
 
So K'Tesh, if you have access to the research forum you may be in violation of ITAR if you access it from China. I say you may be as it depends on what you look at on that sub forum.

I would be, if I had access to the research forum, but I don't. I never tried to access it.
 
You want the clay to burst out... This implies too much internal pressure. Blowing out the nozzle is much better than the casing rupturing - especially pvc which I recently learned is transparent to X-rays when they go looking for the shrapnel.

Use google - you’ll find no info here but there are lots and lots of tutorials out there about making decent clay nozzles, propellant design, internal pressures etc. It has all been done before and tested to death. The motor design advocated on the King of Random using packed propellant and pvc casings is neither safe nor particularly effective.

I started down this path over the winter and gave up. Lots of fire and smoke - not much else. You save a few bucks but it’s not worth the hassle for low power stuff... The economics are different if you’re casting very large grains and have access to inexpensive raw materials.
 
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