Purdue LOX/LCH4 Rocket (FAR-MARS)

[chris97rockets]

Hello everyone,

I am currently on a team that is building a rocket for the FAR-MARS competition and beyond for Purdue. We have recently been more public about our entry and starting to share with the world some of what we are doing. We are just about to have a critical design review and I will be allowed to release more details on the rocket then. Immediately following that we will be doing sort of a build thread on here and on our social media. Look up and follow us on the major platforms as Purdue Space Program to get updates! Our website is currently under construction. The purpose of this post it to say hi and set up a forum for constructive criticisms! For the past several months we have done a lot of designing and reviewing. We even recently flew a full scale version of the rocket with a solid motor to launch our ~secret~ payload and double check some math. So hello everyone and come with us on the next leg of this exciting project!

The team


The test rocket. Photo by Terry Smemo


The great grandfather that came before us.


The Rocketry Forum exclusive sneak peak of the rocket.


- Chris

 

[dixontj93060]

Go Boilers!

From the Ether...

 

[RocketFeller]

Very nice. I will be watching with interest, ~secret~ payloads are cool.

My nephew graduated from Purdue a couple years ago, he now works as a design engineer at an agricultural equipment manufacturer out here in Oregon.


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[kclo4]

After having met Timothee Pourpoint at the AIAA conference in July, I am super jealous of the kinds of work you guys are doing over there.

Super interested in your implementation of the liquid motor into the rocket, but such details on this forum are limited to the "research" sub forum.

 

[Nick@JET]

Will be watching with interest from Greencastle. Was at AF this year but must have missed your flight dang it.



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[chris97rockets]

Super interested in your implementation of the liquid motor into the rocket, but such details on this forum are limited to the "research" sub forum.

Yes, our social posts will be very general and not get into the "how" part. If there is interest though we could do a more detailed thread in the research section.

 

[chris97rockets]

Today we started to assemble our data acquisition and control system. This isn't for our testing but for our launch system. Essentially these panels will be placed into big boxes and will sit on the launch pad to receive data from the rocket.

 

[SS/EA 6BBL 71 Cuda]

IF your ever approached by a Professor there named Victor "Big Stick" Barlow-

RUN! :surprised:

He gives really warm hugs though...GO BOILERS! (and, Milwaukee School of Engineering, YAH DER EH!)

 

[cvanc]

Good luck with your project and flight!

If I can ask, what, electrically, is going on in this image?

View attachment 328844

My guess is an array of hi voltage sparkers or something like that - an ignition source. But hey it might be feedback sensors for all I know.

I can't tell if those yellow things are single passives or a module or... what. But I'm thinking maybe HV caps to couple some hi amplitude/hi freq signal to make, essentially, RF-driven spark plugs... maybe??

 

[Sooner Boomer]

The yellow things are thermocouples. OK, they're actually the connectors at the end of a thermocouple... We used a big boatload of them in a research project I worked on.




Interface panel
View attachment 329306

 

[Nytrunner]

I can't express how much I hate terminating thermocouples into those connectors.......

Nice solenoid valve though. What is that, the oxidizer line? (*I ask realizing that this was a previous engine you may not have full info on)

 

[Sooner Boomer]

I can't express how much I hate terminating thermocouples into those connectors.......

Nice solenoid valve though. What is that, the oxidizer line? (*I ask realizing that this was a previous engine you may not have full info on)

How else would you do it? In my case, we had to have the maximum amount of flexibility. The plumbing was redesigned almost weekly. There was more than a mile of thermocouple extension wire in the reactor structure by the time we were through.

 

[Nytrunner]

How else would you do it? In my case, we had to have the maximum amount of flexibility. The plumbing was redesigned almost weekly. There was more than a mile of thermocouple extension wire in the reactor structure by the time we were through.

I have nothing against their utility once they're done, they're just a pain to make. Bringing up flashbacks from the rail-bearing lab as an undergrad research assistant.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

I have nothing against their utility once they're done, they're just a pain to make. Bringing up flashbacks from the rail-bearing lab as an undergrad research assistant.

Oh, yeah. Each thermocouple had at least four connectors in line between the sensor and the display/logger. I wore out the small screwdriver blade on my Leatherman assembling them. At least I got paid by the hour. :tongue:

 

[chris97rockets]

Update time! There is a customer coming to our stand after we test so we had to replan our plumbing to easily adapt to them as well. That set prop team back a few weeks but we are now continuing full steam ahead. During that time we had our Critical Design Review of our whole system and we are now starting to order parts for the rocket. We have also are nearing completion of our Data Acquisition and Control system (DAQ). We are helping in build up of a new facility, so we have actually already assembled one but it was whisked away to be put to work. The one for Cali will be a bit bigger. We have ~ 15 thermocouple channels, about 10 pressure transducers, and 32 channels for anything else we need.

This beauty is our boilerplate chamber. We learned a lesson on welding. Our machinist had to do 22 passes for the weld because an angle was off. We are very grateful for his patience and we will forever be in donut debt to him.


This is the one half of our injector. This is just using DI water to see if there is anything obviously bad with it.


This is the other part. During a fire these two parts will be flowing at the same time.


This is one of the test control rooms. This isn't the exact one we will be using, just the one closest to our photo op. Same thing just turned around and carpeted.


BONUS PICTURE!!! One of our members said, "Wouldn't it be funny if we made a hybrid rocket out of Cheetos?" The answer is yes, its hilarious. Here is version 1. It is silly but kids LOVE making/eating rocket fuel. It was a great outreach tool for an event we had. Version two is being assembled now with a nice metal stand off the ground and all around a bit more professional looking. I can't post how to make one here but if there is a lot of interest for a hybrid engine that produces milli-newtons of thrust and a chamber pressure of less than 5psi we can talk. Yes we do have the data, flaming hot Cheetos do burn better than regular Cheetos.

 

[chris97rockets]

Test stands are hard. After many delays the team is continuing with its hot fire January 5. We recently launched a new website https://www.purdueseds.space/purdue-space-program-1! It is for the whole club so there is lots of other stuff we do too. The mold for the airframe has been made and the aluminum is in transit for the rest of the rocket. Goal is to have all non propulsion systems machined by Feb 1.