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The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Phoenix Hybrid Sounding Rocket Programme was established in 2010. The programme’s main objective is to develop a sounding rocket launch capability for the African scientific community, which currently lacks the ability to fly research payloads to the upper atmosphere. In this dissertation, UKZN’s in-house Hybrid Rocket Performance Simulator (HYROPS) software is used to improve the design of the Phoenix-2A vehicle, which is intended to deliver a 5 kg instrumentation payload to an apogee altitude of 100 km. As a benchmarking exercise, HYROPS was first validated by modelling the performance of existing sub-orbital sounding rockets similar in apogee to Phoenix-2A. The software was found to approximate the performance of the published flight data within 10%. A generic methodology was then proposed for applying HYROPS to the design of hybrid propellant sounding rockets. An initial vehicle configuration was developed and formed the base design on which parametric trade studies were conducted. The performance sensitivity for varying propulsion and aerodynamic parameters was investigated. The selection of parameters was based on improving performance, minimising cost, safety and ease of manufacturability. The purpose of these simulations was to form a foundation for the development of the Phoenix-2A vehicle as well as other large-scale hybrid rockets. Design chamber pressure, oxidiser-to-fuel ratio, nozzle design altitude, and fin geometry were some of the parameters investigated. The change in the rocket’s propellant mass fraction was the parameter which was found to have the largest effect on performance. The fin and oxidiser tank geometries were designed to avoid fin flutter and buckling respectively. The oxidiser mass flux was kept below 650 kg/m2s and the pressure drop across the injector relative to the chamber pressure was maintained above 15% to mitigate the presence of combustion instability. The trade studies resulted in an improved design of the Phoenix-2A rocket. The propellant mass of the final vehicle was 30 kg less than the initial conceptual design and the overall mass was reduced by 25 kg. The Phoenix-2A vehicle was 12 m in length with a total mass of 1006 kg. The fuel grain length of Phoenix-2A was 1.27 m which is approximately 3 times that of Phoenix-1A. The benefit of aluminised paraffin wax as a fuel was also investigated. The results indicated that more inert mass can be delivered to the target apogee of 100 km when using a 40% aluminised paraffin wax. / M.Sc.Eng. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 42-43)

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2009. / Mode of access: Internet. Title from PDF title page; viewed on September 28, 2009. Major professor: Dr. Joseph Mello. "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree [of] Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering." "June 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 69).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-204).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:34:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-09-11Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:44:44Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 garcia_a_dr_guara.pdf: 2102089 bytes, checksum: 0317ee56928eede236168b36cbbd28b5 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Agência Espacial Brasileira (AEB) / As ações do responsável pela segurança de vôo, em lançamentos de foguetes, são fundamentais para minimizar riscos relacionados à vida, ao meio ambiente e a bens materiais. Nesse contexto está incluída a atividade de cálculo da posição do lançador, para compensação da influência do vento na trajetória de foguetes nãocontrolados. Atualmente, a execução dessa tarefa e a realimentação das informações referentes ao posicionamento do lançador não são realizadas de forma automática. Esse é um dos motivos pelos quais é necessário realizar o ajuste final do lançador, aproximadamente cinco a sete minutos antes do lançamento. No intervalo de tempo até o lançamento, o vento pode mudar de velocidade e direção, promovendo situação com potencial suficiente para causar desvio na trajetória do foguete, com conseqüente aumento da dispersão do seu ponto de impacto. O objetivo desse trabalho é propor uma arquitetura de sistema para automatizar o ajuste da posição em azimute e elevação de lançadores de foguetes de sondagem não-controlados. Os ensaios realizados com o protótipo de lançador mostraram que a proposta deste trabalho é capaz de realizar automaticamente o posicionamento de lançadores durante campanhas de lançamento, para compensar a influência do vento na trajetória do foguete, com o objetivo de diminuir a dispersão de impacto de foguetes não-controlados. / The actions taken by the person responsible for flight safety in rocket launch are fundamental to minimize risks related to life, environment and material assets. This context includes the calculation of the launcher’s position to compensate for wind influence on the unguided rocket trajectory. Currently, the accomplishment of such task and the feedback of data regarding launcher’s positioning are not performed automatically. This is one of the reasons why it is necessary to make the final adjustment of the launcher approximately five to seven minutes before such launch. Within the time interval until the launch, wind speed and direction may change and give rise to a situation with enough potential to cause a deviation in the rocket’s trajectory with the consequential increase in the dispersion of its point of impact. The purpose of this work is to propose a system architecture able to automate the adjustment of the position in azimuth and the elevation of unguided sounding rocket launchers. The tests made on the prototype launcher showed that the proposal of this work can automatically make the positioning of the launchers during launch campaigns to compensate for wind influence on the rocket’s trajectory in order to reduce dispersion of impact of unguided rockets.