TY - GEN
T1 - Model rocket projects for aerospace engineering course
T2 - 54th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 2016
AU - Brewer, John C.
AU - Reis, Ronaldo C.
AU - Tomiozzo, Ronaldo Limberger
AU - Okutsu, Masataka
N1 - Funding Information:
The work presented in this paper is based on a class project in ME554 Aerospace Design (Instructor: Masataka Okutsu) at The Catholic University of America (CUA), Washington, DC. The work of the second and the third authors were sponsored by the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP) of the Brazilian government in association with Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES); the program is administered by the Institude of International Education (IIE). We are grateful to Thanh Phan and Don Smalley for their assistance in the thrust-measurement experiment, and to Tuan Nguyen and Rodrigo Sanservero Martins for their insights into the thermochemical analyses. We thank Cynthia Brewer and Greg Brewer for their invaluable advice and assistance in the spectroscopy and extraction experiments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - As a subset of model rocket projects, analyses on the propellant are discussed. Notable activities proposed and carried out by our students include the infrared spectroscopy experiment that identifies the composition of the propellant and the extraction experiment that determines the mixture ratio of those substances. These experiments are practical yet rarely employed in model rocket projects, perhaps because the required equipment is typically not found in engineering labs but in chemistry labs. In these activities students integrate knowledge and skills across academic disciplines, and uncover what manufacturers of hobby rockets prefer to keep as a propriety secret: the exact chemical make-up of their motors, made of black powder. Thermochemical analyses of the propellant are also discussed. Activities presented in this paper are appropriate for university-level engineering courses, and require no prerequisite courses beyond the freshmen-level chemistry.
AB - As a subset of model rocket projects, analyses on the propellant are discussed. Notable activities proposed and carried out by our students include the infrared spectroscopy experiment that identifies the composition of the propellant and the extraction experiment that determines the mixture ratio of those substances. These experiments are practical yet rarely employed in model rocket projects, perhaps because the required equipment is typically not found in engineering labs but in chemistry labs. In these activities students integrate knowledge and skills across academic disciplines, and uncover what manufacturers of hobby rockets prefer to keep as a propriety secret: the exact chemical make-up of their motors, made of black powder. Thermochemical analyses of the propellant are also discussed. Activities presented in this paper are appropriate for university-level engineering courses, and require no prerequisite courses beyond the freshmen-level chemistry.
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U2 - 10.2514/6.2016-1578
DO - 10.2514/6.2016-1578
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85007566331
SN - 9781624103933
T3 - 54th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting
BT - 54th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting
PB - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA
Y2 - 4 January 2016 through 8 January 2016
ER -