Design and analysis of 2-axis rocket motor stand for thrust vectoring

摘要

With the advancement in technology, the frequency of space missions has gone high in the last decade, and cost has become an essential criterion for the mission. More Research and development is required to meet the needs of the mission nowadays. Thrust stand helps to cut the development time and cost. The performance characteristics such as Specific impulse, net thrust, pressure v/s time, specific fuel consumption, etc. which vary with the selected fuel/oxidizer combination to evaluate these performances thrust stand is needed. The main aim of a thrust stand is to limit the test article while estimating an adequate number of forces to characterize the thrust vector. Various force measurement systems are available to determine thrust, namely scale force measurement, momentum balance, and calculations using nozzle coefficient or component stacking method. In this study, a scale force measurement system is made with a 2-axis component to measure the side forces and the overall thrust is measured using an on-axis load cell. The rocket motor is attached to the frame, it becomes a complete free body, and the summation of the forces acting on the free-body provides the gross thrust and the engine net thrust. The designed frame can safely bear a maximum load of 150N. In practice, to reduce friction to be minimum, load cells are mounted between short rod flexures. However, stiff in compression allow sideways movement of the struct end under a small load that can easily be sensed by the load cell.