Wood Fibre Materials on Hot Sounding Rocket Structures

Abstract

Throughout the history of aviation as well as space flight, wooden materials played a major role in the construction of primary as well as secondary structures. Being one of the first construction materials used in that field, it does not only offer low density and good relative strength properties, but also easy handling, simple production processes, low costs and last but not least a green, renewable resource. With its unique characteristics the worlds lightest and biggest aviation vehicles heavier than air were created. Because of its relatively low thermal conductivity and good ablative behaviour wooden materials are taken into consideration for the use of hot structures such as the leading edges of sounding rocket stabilising fins. As a mandatory and thus flight critical structure of ballistic flying vehicles, fins need to be aerodynamically effective, lightweight, stiff and heat resistant on its foremost front end, where high temperatures may arise from fluid stagnation and friction. In order to gain a deeper understanding and assess the usability of modern wood fibre materials being appropriate in that field jointly, a cooperation with the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been established. This paper describes the motivation of the research as well as the structural application with its functionality and boundary conditions. The choice of materials and its rationale for selection in combination with various screening test results are the core of this research. First impacts on the components´ design and an outlook for future research conclude this paper.