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Abstract A project-based course involving the design, analysis, manufacturing, testing, and launching of mid-power solid-propellant rockets over a ten-week period has been developed and taught as an approach to enhance the education and preparation of aerospace engineers at the university level. The course consists of a sequence of structured laboratory assignments that expose students to common software tools, aerospace materials, manufacturing techniques, and testing methods that directly inform and run parallel to the project. Teams of four to five students complete the project (and portions of the labs) collaboratively within an engineering competition framework. Individual students within each team are assigned specific engineering roles (e.g. design engineer, manufacturing engineer) to create an interdependence that reflects a typical integrated product team in industry and exposes students to realistic social dynamics. Student teams conduct design reviews as progressive milestones for assessment, in addition to laboratory assignments. At a per-student cost on the same order as a textbook, the project-based course combines theoretical content from several subjects with a high-order learning approach (create, evaluate, analyze) to advance the engineering skills of university students. Highlights • 10-week rocket design-build-launch course developed for aerospace education. • Project-based learning hybridized with structured laboratory sessions. • Integration of industry-relevant analytical tools, manufacturing & testing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A finite element model is established to investigate the strength and slip characteristic of sunk screw connections in the rocket. A typical configuration is used as the basic model of parametric study to analyze the influence of pretension, friction coefficient and the angle of sunk head. It is found that with the rise of pretension force, the maximum von Mises of sunk screw connection decreases before the optimal pretension force and then increases, and the optimal pretension force can be predicted by finite element method. The friction coefficient has positive influence on structural behavior. With the rise of angle of sunk head, the maximum Von Mises increases and then decreases, and the position of stress concentration transfer from the middle of sunk screw to the lower edge of sunk head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance characteristics of ammonium perchlorate/aluminum powder rocket motor were investigated experimentally based on a powder rocket testing system. Three-pulse experiment with one hour interval and four-pulse experiment with 15 s interval were conducted with a bi-propellant powder feed system. The experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the powder rocket for the multiple-pulse operation and the synchronization of powder feed method. The multiple-pulse performance characteristics were analyzed accordingly. It shows that the motor initiates steadily with the mass flow rate of 2.5 g/s for oxidizer powder fluidization gas and 2.0 g/s for fuel powder fluidization gas. The relative standard deviation was adopted to describe the repeatability characteristics of the pulses. The relative standard deviation of ammonium perchlorate and aluminum pistons velocity is 0.072 and 0.007, and that of oxidizer-fuel mass feed ratio is 0.052. The motor performed well with good repeatability of combustor pressure, start-up response and combustion efficiency during the multiple-pulse tests. Low frequency combustion pressure oscillations，3.6–4.2 Hz with amplitudes up to 18.7% of mean combustor pressure, were encountered. The phenomenon appeared seriously at first pulse, then alleviated at the following pulses. Further analysis of test results showed that increasing chamber pressure could ameliorate the oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]