Design and Analysis of Carbon-Epoxy Composite Rocket Motor Casing

Mechanical Engineering

The rocket motor case is an inert or non-energy contributing missile component; the design objective is to make the case as lightweight as possible, within the bounds of technology and cost. The rocket motor casing materials must be able to withstand high pressures and elevated temperatures due to the combustion of the fuel. In this paper, the design of the rocket motor case is done by considering the maximum expected operating pressure, design safety factor of 1.25 with diameter of 11 inches and thickness of 0.06 inches. The 3-D model of rocket motor case is developed using CATIA V5R16 software. The static structural analysis and linear buckling analysis is done for stack ups [0/90/0/90], [45/-45/-45/45], [0/45/-45/90], [0/90/45/-45/90/0] of unidirectional carbon-epoxy IM10/8552 composite and the steady-state thermal analysis is done on carbon-epoxy IM10/8552 shell model and solid model of the rocket motor casing by using ANSYS 15.0 software and the results are compared with the results of static structural, steady-state thermal, linear buckling analysis of D6AC steel material rocket motor casing to specify the better efficient material.

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