Making a Rocket Nose Cone
Making a Rocket Nose Cone
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Throughout my involvement in QRET, I have always been involved in the manufacturing of the nose cone. Throughout all these years, I have noticed the process of alignment of the nose cone relative to the axis of the rocket has consistently been eyeballed into place.
Though we have successfully flown this way on numerous occasions, I worked to find a geometric solution that would prevent this issue in the future while ensuring the highest-quality carbon fibre.
The graphic below shows the process as a video.
Principles of the method:
The objective was to find a methodology that would geometrically constrain the nose cone in manufacturing along the axis while simultaneously not interfering with the current design methodology.
The design uses a 3D-printed male mould system with two locating rings epoxied into place in the composite. Once the composite is hardened, the printed material can be removed. A supporting plate is to be mounted to the lower alignment ring, creating a bulkhead, and a rod can be placed through to trim and sand either ends of the nose cone while on a lathe or similar device. Once completed, the upper alignment ring doubles as a securing method for a metallic tip, and the lower alignment ring can have a plate installed such that the entire nose cone can house the payload.
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