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Project Charter
Liquid Rocketry at Illinois is currently in Phase 1 of our Project Charter, and our technical teams are focused on creating rocket components that operate safely while giving our teams experience in the component development process.
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Phase 1
Operation
In this phase, LRI shall create component systems that can function at their most basic level so that technical teams can ensure they have the prerequisite knowledge, experience, and hardware to be able to develop flight vehicle components.
Phase 2
Optimization
In this phase, LRI shall optimize component systems to perform at a factor of safety on a liquid flight vehicle such that they do not experience inert failure.
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Phase 3
2-Factor Integration
In this phase, LRI shall both integrate a blowdown vehicle and begin the creation of a regeneratively cooled engine and LOx Pump so that we can begin creating components towards our goal, a pump-fed liquid flight vehicle.
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Phase 4
3-Factor Integration
In this phase, LRI shall both integrate a hybrid flight vehicle and optimize our regeneratively cooled engine and LOx Pump for integration into a flight vehicle.
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Phase 5
Full Integration
In this phase, LRI shall finally accomplish its goal of having a fully pump-fed liquid flight vehicle and be able to enter a new phase with the basic capabilities of creating a pump-fed liquid flight vehicle.
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At LRI, we strongly believe that teams should be focused around projects that members can take full ownership of. Thus, our teams are committed to designing, manufacturing, and testing the four fundamental components of our rocket.
Fluids and Internal Structures
The Testing Team is responsible for designing, building and testing the fluids systems responsible for hotfiring a liquid rocket engine. At the center of this is our test stand RAND-E which houses all of the tanks, plumbing, control valves, and electrical control systems that allow us to deliver liquid propellant at the desired pressures and mass flow rates to the injector and combustion chamber of our engine.
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The engine is one of the critical parts of LRI’s fluids system in which high pressure fluids accumulate in a thrust chamber assembly capable of delivering high levels of thrust and an incredibly awesome view. Members of this tech team get to apply their knowledge in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and the scientific method in order to design, manufacture, and test components.
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Engine
Airframe
The airframe team leads the way in designing and manufacturing the external airframe, avionics bay, and control systems for our flight vehicle. They perform thorough aerodynamic analyses using ANSYS Fluent to retrieve induced roll moments to size rocket ailerons. These analyses, along with dedicated control system design will allow our rockets to fly straight while ensuring component integrity.
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