Experimental Investigation of Custom Composite Rocket Body Tubes

Emma Dorsey* and Annette Straziuso*, Benjamin M. Statler Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department, West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26506

Field (Broad Category): Engineering (Physical Sciences & Engineering) 

Student’s Major: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering 

Two West Virginia University engineering students desire to research various materials and wind angles using a commercially available composite tube winder called X-Winder. Emma Dorsey and Annette Straziuso developed an interest in the composite winding process while designing rockets for the WVU Experimental Rocketry Club. Rockets must be strong enough to withstand the launch process yet must also be lightweight. Rocket bodies manufactured of a composite material such as fiberglass are both strong and light. During the manufacturing process, a composite filament is wound around a cylindrical core (called a mandrel) at predetermined overlapping wind angels while it is coated in resin, forming a cylinder. Once the resin is cured, the mandrel is removed, leaving a composite tube with a higher tensile strength than stainless steel. Through destructive and non-destructive testing, the students plan to identify the most efficient rocket body tube, along with establishing a database of statistical results. The latter serves to become a tool for use by future students and for other applications. The beneficiaries of this research include the individual students, the WVU Experimental Rocketry Club and potentially all future engineering students who use the X-Winder system. 

Funding: West Virginia NASA Space Grant Consortium 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU 497-level course