Composite Overwrap Stratos IV Rocket Oxidizer Tank

Timelapse of the composite overwrap of the Stratos IV rocket flight tanks. This is done using the filament winding technique. The tanks are flight hardware and stores a total of 174 kg of nitrous oxide oxidizer at a pressure of 60 bar.
Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering is one of the largest and most advanced student rocketry teams of the world. With over 18 years of experience in high-power rocketry, our goal is to reach space with a fully student-built rocket. As a Dreamteam of Delft University of Technology, we aim at providing students with a hands-on experience that is unique in this world. Next to our Stratos and Aether flagship projects, the society also conducts fundamental research in all fields of sounding rocketry, such as propulsion, recovery, control, structural design and recovery.
#daretudelft #rocket #stratosiv

[@TonyUnderscore]

Cant wait for the launch

[@dare_tudelft]

We are also looking forward to it! :)

[@EngineerM]

Academic test in an hour... NIce work.

[@dare_tudelft]

Thanks a lot!

[@cihuycuy672]

what software do you guys use to run the machine, and how to design gcode?

[@Pottery4Life]

I see that there were a few "start/stops" in the middle of the winding and that each time, the new layer was removed before starting again. Is there a set amount of time before you are unable to remove the winding or are they always loosely adherent? What binds the filaments? Is there a separate coating step?

[@dare_tudelft]

The carbon that is wound over the tank is held together with an epoxy resin. The fibers are impregnated just before they are wound onto the tank, which allows us to use a fresh resin. The resin used in this case has a potlife of roughly two hours, meaning that two hours after it is mixed it will start to become more viscous and eventually solid.

[@silviuflorescu6838]

@@dare_tudelft , I know it's a bit late question, but you are saying the epoxy is a regular resin, hardening to room temperature? No need for oven? How thick is the tank's wall in the end? I just want to make an ideea about the carbon fiber quantity +epoxy.. and final weight. I want try building an air compresssed boat and need some calculations before. Thx

[@michaelomeara8985]

Awesome! What are the dimensions of that tank? Looks huge!

[@dare_tudelft]

It indeed is. The tank is around 4.6 m tall and stores a total of 174 kg of nitrous oxide at a pressure of 60 bar.

[@John-pp2jr]

Does not look like a clean environment. How even is the winding?

[@nachtgecher]

Very nice work! Why is the tank (and I assume the resulting rocket) so thin compared to its length?

[@dare_tudelft]

Basically, the diameter of the rocket is dictated by the diameter of the combustion chamber. However, as you still need a certain amount of oxidizer, the tank gets very elongated.

[@tristanlongangue5671]

@@dare_tudelft yeah but the diameter of your combustion chamber can be smaller than the diameter of you rocket for exemple atlas, delta, falcon 9 and starphip all have smaller engines compared to their tanks so what’s the difference in “small rockets” ? Very nice tank btw and is the fuel tank smaller or the same size? And what would have been the max pressure of the tank without the carbon fiber?(its carbon fiber right?)

[@parsarahimi335]

60bars and you put that much fiber on it, it will probs burst at 800...

[@jackwang-wh1sm]

we are winding machine factory. We can produce this kind of machine