No Stress No Failure - Capstone

  Over the work period of Nov. 12 - Nov. 26, progress has been made for heat transfer and force calculations, and the analysis is complete. The team is confident that the final design will sustain an internal temperature within the desired range of 32°F to 77°F for 40 minutes, and withstand the forces from the rocket’s flight. Using the temperature equation found from the previous analysis, the team was able to calculate the total energy from heat transfer to the design after 40 minutes and compared it to the energy required to melt the phase change material. Figure 1 shows the equations used to calculate the energy. The projected energy to be transferred into the case was found to be 3581 kJ/m^2 while the energy required to melt the PCM is 3690 kJ/m^2. If perfectly designed, this would mean the internal temperature of the insulating case will remain at a constant 35°F for 40 minutes. The 3D model for the final design is complete and was used for FEA on the forces experienced durin...

Over the work period of Oct. 29 - Nov. 12, progress has been made for the heat transfer and vibration calculations. The 1D transient heat conduction is being used to model the cooling system as a sphere, and the team is still working on incorporating a cold substance into the calculations to get a more accurate result. Figure 1 shows the model we used for the heat transfer calculations. Originally, the team planned to conduct vibration calculations on the screws that will secure the cooling system to the payload housing. After discussing with the team’s advisor, Alex Blick, the team decided that the cooling system will require threaded rods to constrain the case instead of screws. Instead of doing hand calculations for the rods, the team will now perform finite element analysis on the design to find the forces transferred from the rods to the cooling system. Team 7 visited the Iron Ring Technologies facility to discuss the project with Alex Blick, and view the equipment available to th...