CFD Modelling of our Nosecone 

Once we had designed and drawn our nosecone on SolidWorks, we used the flow simulator to observe how it would travel through to air and to find the drag coefficient. The flow simulator gives us an idea of how well our rocket will perform aerodynamically when it is launched, so giving us a chance to make any edits to our design. Instructions on how to conduct the flow simulation on SolidWorks can be found on our homepage .

We tested our nosecone in both laminar and turbulent flow. Turbulent flow, fast and disruptive, is what our rocket would experience when being launched. Testing in laminar flow was necessary to be able to see the aerodynamics of the shape clearly as any bumps and flaws affecting the flow is more likely to be identified here.

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Our nosecone travelling through laminar flow (at 0.003m/s):
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Our nosecone travelling through turbulent flow (at 20m/s):
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We found the drag force in laminar flow to be 6.8e-9N and in turbulent flow to be 0.52N. This on its own means very little, so we then decided to test various shapes in the flow simulator to see how they compared and to give these values more significance.

 

 

CFD Modelling of Comparison Shapes

 

We also tested a block and a sphere in the flow simulator in laminar flow (at 0.003m/s):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As well as testing them in turbulent flow (at 20m/s):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could then compare how the drag differed for the different shapes. For example, the block in laminar flow had a drag of 1.7e-7N which is more than the 4.2e-8N drag of a sphere in laminar flow. These are both more than the drag value of our nosecone, implying our nosecone is a more aerodynamic shape. For the turbulent flow, the sphere had a drag of 0.43N and the block of 1.7N. In this case, the sphere had lower drag than our nosecone (0.52N) which is most likely because our nosecones cuts off abruptly where it is supposed to attach to the rocket and therefore the air travelling over it cannot maintain a smooth path.

 

 

CFD Modelling of our Rocket Assembly

We then decided to test the nose cone attached to our CAD bottle rocket as this would have a great affect on the drag.
at 0.003m/s:
at 20m/s:
The drag force for our rocket in laminar flow was found to be 2.1e-7N and 0.58N in turbulent flow. As the fins would’ve added some drag, these values are actually fairly similar to the values we received from the nosecone, so implying the assembly is aerodynamic.