OpenRocket - Chute Opening Time

[kjhambrick]

All --

I've been playing with OpenRocket and I am very impressed with the features.

One Q I have is: Is there a way to set a time to open the chute ?

It appears that the Chute opens instantenously which results in a large jerk value( rate of change of acceleration is jerk ) and high peak acceleration when the chute opens.

OTOH, a chute takes a finite time to open.

Is there a way to set a 'time to open' for the parachute ?

Thanks.

-- kjh

An Example.

 

[lakeroadster]

No, not to my knowledge. But you could submit this idea as a feature request for a future release of Open Rocket.

There are various techniques to minimize the shock to the fuselage from the parachute opening. It's arguably one of the most complex mechanical (and sometimes enhanced by electronics) parts of the rocket, especially true for High Power Rocketry, but also for LPR & MPR.

Elastic Shock Chords,
Z-Folded Shock Cords that utilize rubber bands or tape or both,
Drogue Chutes,
and many more...

 

[kjhambrick]

No, not to my knowledge. But you could submit this idea as a feature request for a future release of Open Rocket.

There are various techniques to minimize the shock to the fuselage from the parachute opening. It's arguably one of the most complex mechanical parts of the rocket, especially true for High Power Rocketry.

lakeroadster --

Yes, the recovery phase of the flight is unpredictable at best.

We all know that it takes time to eject the recovery system and then for the chute to fully deploy.

The large acceleration spike doesn't really affect what I am ultimately after and 'fixing' this small potato would not be too high on my Do-List if I was an OR Dev

I am still learning OR and I discover something new every time I run it.

I was guessing that I missed something in the Parachute Setup.

Thanks !

-- kjh

 

[waltr]

This is not an issue I look at in OR. What I do look at is Time or Altitude chute opens then the descent rate under chute.

One could take the Chute opening Acceleration in OR as the Worse Case and then ensure the recovery system will not fail with this Stress.

 

[kjhambrick]

I agree waltr.

I was just looking for an 'undiscovered parameter'

-- kjh

 

[tsmith1315]

I was just looking for an 'undiscovered parameter'

Of course, OR *is* open source, if you’re needing something to do…