SPLASH

Project

• Our project tests the effects of a rocket launch on a mass dropped in a liquid chamber.
• We videoed a mass being dropped in a liquid during a rocket launch to see how it reacts.
• We can then review the footage and identify ways to limit problems for future launches.

System

Methods

• We built an acrylic chamber filled with liquid to drop the mass into.
• We used a pre-existing Payload release mechanism connected to a programmed control board to time the release of the mass.
• We used LED lighting and high-resolution cameras to record the drop and splash inside of the payload.
• We used an on-board accelerometer to determine the proper point in the rocket’s flight to drop our mass.
• We used liquid thickening powder to reduce the splashing due to the rocket’s vibrations.

Conclusion

• The prototype is watertight and will drop the hanging mass from the payload release mechanism when the rocket reaches 9 G.
• The time and acceleration data before and after the release will be recorded in an SD card.
• We may want to do further research to test the different components we used under loads of 9 – 10 G to verify no errors come up during future launches.
• We learned that sometimes using existing solutions can be a little tricky and may not produce the result you expect at first.
• We would like to see this experiment carried out at larger scales or with different types of liquids to analyze the results.