Space Dynamics

Assignment 1
Consider a water rocket of dimensions as shown in the figure. The water container has a
capacity of ~850 ml (~850 cc) with a payload of 150 g attached in front of the rocket.
A water rocket uses high pressure air filled inside the
container to push the water out through the nozzle to produce
thrust. Initially, the container is filled with water up to a certain
level and high pressure air is pumped in. When it is launched, the
water is ejected out through the nozzle at a particular flow rate ,
the air pressure inside the container reduces due to expansion in
the air volume. Thereby, the thrust (T) produced will vary with
respect to time.
Since the flight motion is governed by the thrust produced,
all the parameters such as Acceleration (a), velocity (v), distance
travelled (s), instantaneous mass of the vehicle (M), pressure
inside the container (0 ), mass flow rate through the nozzle (),
and the water exit velocity ( ) vary with time. You need to plot
these variations in a graph.

150 g
4 cm

66.15 cm

For a given air pressure inside the container (3 bar for this
4 cm
problem), the foresaid parameters vary and attains a different
maximum values. i.e., for the case with water volume of 450 cc
0.5 mm
and High Pressure air volume of 850 c 450 cc = 400 cc, the maxAcceleration or max-Velocity or max-Thrust attained will be different from the case where the
initial water volume is 650 cc and high pressure air volume is 200 cc.
Your task is to plot the variation in the foresaid parameters (T, a, v, s, M, 0 , , ) with
respect to time for different initial water volume in the container. Consider the pressure of air
pumped inside the container before launch is 3 bar for all the cases of initial water volume.
Consider the flight is taking place in vacuum with no influence of gravitational field. Consider
also that the density of water is =1000 kg/m3.
Submission date: 5 September 2016.
The report has to contain these topics.
1.
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The question
Given parameters, conditions, and assumptions
Governing equation
Numerical formulation
Flow chart / Algorithm
The plots