3D Printing Fully Printed Nose Cone Tracker Bay?

Hey!

Do you think a fully printed nosecone tracker bay is strong enough for a high powered rocket.

The picture below is a rough idea on the concept.

The nosecone and centering ring are fiberglass - they are white.
The internal printed tube sticking out that is threaded on the end - that is yellow.
The sled slides in and screws into place with a steel 1/4" eyebolt epoxied in it - that is red.

Thoughts?

It can be strong enough, but you need to look at how the stress will be distributed through your parts. The anchor point where the eye bolt attacges is a very high stress area. I made a fully printed nosecone and tracker bay for a 2.6" rocket. I didnt make a sled attached to the coupler, but I will next time

I 3D printed a 4" NC that I regularly fly. I actually screwed the eyebolt into an aluminium part that is screwed to the sled. This prevents it pulling out. That is a high-stress location and a likely point of failure in your current design. You could put a fiberglass (G10) washer inside the NC and bolt the eyebolt onto that, to spread the forces and prevent pullout. Remember that 3D printed parts are stronger in compression usually.



Details on the rest of the NC is here: https://forum.ausrocketry.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5019

Note that the sled is slender and capable of fitting in 54mm rockets, using different cone bases and bodies.

For smaller nosecones having the sled screwed at the top is probably optional, assuming your cantilever on the sled is supported towards the tip somewhere.