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11 pdftitle={OpenRocket technical documentation},
12 pdfauthor={Sampo Niskanen},
13 pdfsubject={Technical documentation of the OpenRocket simulation software},
14 pdfkeywords={OpenRocket, model rocket, rocketry, simulation, technical documentation},
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94 {\LARGE\bf OpenRocket technical documentation}
96 {\large For OpenRocket version 1.1.6}
102 {\Large Sampo Niskanen}
106 Based on the Master's thesis \cite{thesis}
110 \large\it Development of an Open Source model rocket simulation software}
118 \thispagestyle{empty}
124 {\Large\bf Thesis or technical documentation?}
127 The OpenRocket simulation software was originally developed as the
128 Master's thesis project of Sampo Niskanen, including its written
130 {\it ``Development of an Open Source model rocket simulation software''}
131 \cite{thesis}. The thesis is used as the basis of this technical
132 documentation, which is updated to account for later development in the
133 software. This document often still refers to itself as a thesis, as
134 no systematic updating of this fact has yet been performed.
136 While the original thesis is available online under a Creative Commons
137 no-derivatives license, this document is available under a freer
140 The latest version of the technical documentation is available on the
141 OpenRocket website, \url{http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/}.
146 {\Large\bf Version history}
150 \begin{tabular}{lp{120mm}}
151 2010-04-06 & Initial revision. Updates the roll angle effect on three- and
152 four-fin configurations in Section~\ref{update-roll-angle}.
153 (OpenRocket software 1.0.0) \\
154 2011-07-18 & Updated Chapter~\ref{chap-software} for updates in the
155 software. (OpenRocket software 1.1.6) \\
167 \thispagestyle{empty}
171 {\it ``No. Coal mining may be your life, but it's not mine. I'm never
172 going down there again. I wanna go into space.''}
175 \hspace{10mm}\parbox{130mm}{
176 Amateur rocketeer Homer Hickam, Jr. in the movie October Sky (1999), based
179 Hickam later became an engineer at NASA, working in spacecraft design
195 \section*{List of symbols and abbreviations}
200 \begin{tabular}{p{20mm}p{105mm}}
203 \Afin & Area of one fin \\
204 $A_{\rm plan}$& Planform area \\
205 \Aref & Reference area \\
206 $A_{\rm wet}$ & Wetted area \\
207 $\AR$ & Aspect ratio of a fin, $2s^2/\Afin$ \\
208 $c$ & Speed of sound \\
209 $\bar c$ & Mean aerodynamic chord length of a fin \\
210 $c(y)$ & Chord length of a fin at spanwise position $y$ \\
212 $C_A$ & Axial drag force coefficient \\
213 $C_D$ & Drag force coefficient \\
214 $C_f$ & Skin friction drag coefficient \\
215 $C_l$ & Roll moment coefficient \\
216 $C_{ld}$ & Roll damping moment coefficient \\
217 $C_{lf}$ & Roll forcing moment coefficient \\
219 $C_m$ & Pitch moment coefficient \\
220 \Cma & Pitch moment coefficient derivative,
221 $\frac{\partial C_m}{\partial \alpha}$ \\
223 $C_N$ & Normal force coefficient \\
224 \CNa & Normal force coefficient derivative,
225 $\frac{\partial C_N}{\partial \alpha}$ \\
227 $d$ & Reference length, the rocket diameter \\
229 $f_B$ & Rocket fineness ratio, $L/d$ \\
230 $L$ & The rocket length \\
231 $m$ & Pitch moment \\
233 $N$ & Normal force; Number of fins \\
234 $p$ & Air pressure \\
235 $r(x)$ & Body or component radius at position $x$ \\
236 $R$ & Reynolds number \\
237 $s$ & Spanwise length of one fin \\
238 $T$ & Air temperature \\
240 $v_0$ & Free-stream velocity \\
241 $x$, $X$ & Position along the rocket centerline \\
242 $y$ & Spanwise position \\
245 \begin{tabular}{p{20mm}p{105mm}}
246 $\alpha$ & Angle of attack \\
247 $\beta$ & $\sqrt{|M^2-1|}$ \\
248 $\gamma$ & Specific heat ratio, for air $\gamma=1.4$ \\
249 $\Gamma_c$ & Fin midchord sweep angle \\
250 $\delta$ & Fin cant angle \\
251 $\eta$ & Airflow inclination angle over a fin \\
252 $\theta$ & Roll angle \\
253 $\Lambda$ & Dihedral angle between a fin and the direction of airflow \\
254 $\nu$ & Kinematic viscosity of air \\
255 $\xi$ & Distance from rotation axis \\
256 $\rho$ & Density of air \\
257 $\omega$ & Angular velocity \\
265 \begin{tabular}{p{20mm}p{105mm}}
266 CFD & Computational fluid dynamics \\
267 CG & Center of gravity \\
268 CP & Center of pressure \\
270 MAC & Mean aerodynamic chord \\
271 RK4 & Runge-Kutta 4 integration method \\
272 UI & User interface \\
279 \pagenumbering{arabic}
282 \include{chapter-introduction}
283 \include{chapter-basics-of-model-rockets}
284 \include{chapter-aerodynamic-properties}
285 \include{chapter-flight-simulation}
286 \include{chapter-software}
287 \include{chapter-experimental}
288 \include{chapter-conclusion}
293 \section*{Acknowledgments}
295 I would like to express my deepest gratitude to M.Sc.~Timo Sailaranta
296 for his invaluable advice and consultation on the aerodynamic
297 simulation of rockets. Without his input the creation of the
298 OpenRocket software and Master's thesis would have been exceedingly
299 laborious. I would also like to thank Prof.~Rolf Stenberg for
300 supervising the writing of the Master's thesis.
302 I am also deeply grateful for my parents Jouni and Riitta, my entire
303 family, friends and teachers, who have always encouraged me onwards in
304 my life and studies. Above all I would like to thank my brother,
305 Antti~J. Niskanen, for being an inspiration throughout my life and
306 also for building the magnetometer logger used in the experimental
307 flights; and my wife Merli Lahtinen, for her patience and loving
308 understanding for my passion towards rocketry.
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529 \include{chapter-appendices}