College of Engineering Unit:
The HALE Structures/Integration project is ran by a sub steam of the High Altitude Liquid Engine Team that is responsible for the design and integration of key flight components for the teams' sub scale rocket, which is designed to reach an overall height of 30,000 ft. These flight components consist of the rocket fins, nose cone, airframe, and structural bulkheads. Though these components are intended for use on the sub scale rocket, they can be later modified by the team for use on the full scale rocket that is intended to reach the Von Karman line, which is the defined boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. This is because HALE has made all design work with the aim of creating a model that can be scaled up after flight testing.
All components are modeled using Siemens NX and have been dimensioned based on sub teams' component sizes and masses. Material selections for these components have been determined through a combination of student research of composite materials and collaboration with other student clubs at OSU. The team has also utilized different testing methods available to them through the university, to test temperature and structural loading characteristics based on the expected forces that components will be subject to in real flight conditions.
The rocket fins and nose cone are manufactured in house, utilizing various tooling through the MIME Machining and Product Realization Laboratory. Manufacturing of the bulkheads and airframe are still in progress with work to be done by future teams. The airframe consists of two joint composite tubes, where the upper half is made of an S2 fiberglass composite, which is radio transparent and allows for communication with our on board avionics system. The lower half is made from a carbon fiber composite, because it provides extra structural rigidity for the motor housing and fin attachment points, and the materials' strength to weight ratio allows for an optimal center of gravity for maintaining in-flight stability.
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