Development of Inlet for Small-Scale Sounding Rockets for Eulerian slices of ABL
Keywords
Rockets, atmospheric boundary layer, ABL, wind tunnel, and CFD
Presenter Abstract
Sounding rockets are well established for observations into high altitude weather phenomenon; low altitude rocketry use can be expanded into study of the atmospheric boundary layer. Low cost low altitude sounding rockets on descent can provide Eulerian vertical data slices of the atmospheric boundary layer, improving upon the quasi-vertical profile from weather balloons. Considering this scaled sounding rocket approach, a sensor intake to gather atmospheric data during rapid descent was analyzed for behavioral impact on decent and flight dynamics, as well as solar and moisture effects. The sensor is designed to be hung from the shock cord of the sounding rocket during a rapid descent with the drogue chute deployed to allow for a more vertical profile of the atmosphere while still allowing safe recovery of the vehicle. This study describes a flow study of the atmospheric sensor intake system in a small low turbulence wind tunnel to determine its effectiveness under descent conditions, and the effect of sensor attitude on temperature response time. It was found that both Angle of Attack and Freestream velocity changes had an impact on the sensor response time of the temperature sensor, and shows the value of a possible boundary layer control mechanism for lower effects of flight dynamics. CFD was used to verify the presented experiential methods, as well as to provided a more generalized analysis on the impact of the freestream on inlet performance.
Presentations
Presented in Session 3: Platform Development III
Development of Inlet for Small-Scale Sounding Rockets for Eulerian slices of ABL
Sounding rockets are well established for observations into high altitude weather phenomenon; low altitude rocketry use can be expanded into study of the atmospheric boundary layer. Low cost low altitude sounding rockets on descent can provide Eulerian vertical data slices of the atmospheric boundary layer, improving upon the quasi-vertical profile from weather balloons. Considering this scaled sounding rocket approach, a sensor intake to gather atmospheric data during rapid descent was analyzed for behavioral impact on decent and flight dynamics, as well as solar and moisture effects. The sensor is designed to be hung from the shock cord of the sounding rocket during a rapid descent with the drogue chute deployed to allow for a more vertical profile of the atmosphere while still allowing safe recovery of the vehicle. This study describes a flow study of the atmospheric sensor intake system in a small low turbulence wind tunnel to determine its effectiveness under descent conditions, and the effect of sensor attitude on temperature response time. It was found that both Angle of Attack and Freestream velocity changes had an impact on the sensor response time of the temperature sensor, and shows the value of a possible boundary layer control mechanism for lower effects of flight dynamics. CFD was used to verify the presented experiential methods, as well as to provided a more generalized analysis on the impact of the freestream on inlet performance.