Student Number : 0105159R - MSc(Eng) Dissertation - School of Electrical and Information Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / This dissertation presents the design of a re-usable rocket for use in triggered-lightning experiments. It is intended that the rocket will tow a thin wire to sufficient height so that the lightning mechanism will attach onto the wire and follow it to ground. The rocket design is inherently safe as it does not use explosive materials for its propulsion system, and hence conforms to South African explosive legislation. The designed rocket consists of a hybrid motor, which uses a solid combustion chamber and liquid oxidiser rather than solid motors which use a single solid fuel or a liquid motor which uses two liquid propellants. The mechanical performance of the oxidiser stage is critical in containing the pressurised oxidiser and regulating the flow of the oxidiser into the combustion chamber. The design of the combustion chamber and the rate at which the solid material burns is key to the generation of the pressure which is expelled through the nozzle to produce thrust. The design of the nozzle is covered in which the material from which it is made must withstand temperatures in excess of 1600 ◦C. The entire system was modelled to calculate the parameters of the various subsystems. The simulation study shows that the rocket will be able to reach 1 km with a complete section of wire towed behind it. A cost analysis, against other commercial rocket systems, was performed. The analysis concludes from the total cost of ownership that it is significantly cheaper to operate the designed rocket, over the course of the experiment, than other rocket systems.

No description available.

The main objective of this thesis is to introduce the reader to the problematics of air-launch and to a custom design solution applying this concept. The specifics of this method of bringing a payload into orbit are described and explained. Overview of projects which use aircraft to launch spacecraft is included. Determination of primary parameters of a launch vehicle designed to carry a payload of a specified mass is conducted. The required flight performance has been estimated, a computational model has been developed in software MATLAB, and a multidisciplinary optimization of the design parameters has been performed using a genetic algorithm optimization method. Parameters of the designed air-launched rocket are compared with those of a ground-launched rocket. According to the specific criteria, the Airbus A310-300 aircraft was selected as the most suitable transport aircraft to be used for launching the designed launch vehicle. The last part of the thesis is devoted to the proposal of necessary modifications and estimation of the flight performance.

Au stade de projet amont, les ingénieurs utilisent souvent des modèles de basse fidélité possédant de larges erreurs. Les approches déterministes prennent implicitement en compte les erreurs par un choix conservatif des paramètres aléatoires et par l'ajout de facteurs de sécurité dans les contraintes de conception. Une fois qu'une solution est proposée, elle est analysée par un modèle haute fidélité (test futur): une re-conception peut s'avérer nécessaire pour restaurer la fiabilité ou améliorer la performance, et le modèle basse fidélité est calibré pour prendre en compte les résultats de l'analyse haute-fidélité. Mais une re-conception possède un coût financier et temporel. Dans ce travail, les effets possibles des tests futurs et des re-conceptions sont intégrés à une procédure de conception avec un modèle basse fidélité. Après les Chapitres 1 et 2 qui donnent le contexte de ce travail et l'état de l'art, le Chapitre 3 analyse le dilemme d'une conception initiale conservatrice en terme de fiabilité ou ambitieuse en termes de performances (avec les re-conceptions associées pour améliorer la performance ou la fiabilité). Le Chapitre 4 propose une méthode de simulation des tests futurs et de re-conception avec des erreurs épistémiques corrélées spatialement. Le Chapitre 5 décrit une application à une fusée sonde avec des erreurs à la fois aléatoires et de modèles. Le Chapitre 6 conclut le travail. / At the initial design stage, engineers often rely on low-fidelity models that have high uncertainty. In a deterministic safety-margin-based design approach, uncertainty is implicitly compensated for by using fixed conservative values in place of aleatory variables and ensuring the design satisfies a safety-margin with respect to design constraints. After an initial design is selected, high-fidelity modeling is performed to reduce epistemic uncertainty and ensure the design achieves the targeted levels of safety. High-fidelity modeling is used to calibrate low-fidelity models and prescribe redesign when tests are not passed. After calibration, reduced epistemic model uncertainty can be leveraged through redesign to restore safety or improve design performance; however, redesign may be associated with substantial costs or delays. In this work, the possible effects of a future test and redesign are considered while the initial design is optimized using only a low-fidelity model. The context of the work and a literature review make Chapters 1 and 2 of this manuscript. Chapter 3 analyzes the dilemma of whether to start with a more conservative initial design and possibly redesign for performance or to start with a less conservative initial design and risk redesigning to restore safety. Chapter 4 develops a generalized method for simulating a future test and possible redesign that accounts for spatial correlations in the epistemic model error. Chapter 5 discusses the application of the method to the design of a sounding rocket under mixed epistemic model uncertainty and aleatory parameter uncertainty. Chapter 6 concludes the work.