Upper Airframe and Av-bay

During the Fall 2023 Semester, I worked in a team of three to design the Upper Airframe and Avionics Bay for an 8-inch diameter Rocket called Icarus. I analyzing failure mechanisms such as Buckling, Tension, Bending Moments, and Thread Pull-out.

Meet Icarus (yes that its name)

Icarus is the first liquid rocket the team has flown in its 22 year history. I worked on the Upper Airframe which contains the avionics computer, GPS, and battery. It undergoes compression during launch, bending during max-q (maximum aerodynamic load), and tension during parachute deployment. The team and I designed it to withstand all these forces while providing convenient access for debugging.

Icarus Rocket Side View. Created with SOLIDWORKS

The system utilizes threaded rods, stiffening rings, support rails, and an outer "clam-shell" fuselage, achieving FOS of at least 1.5 under all load cases. This includes axial loading during takeoff, landing & max-q (time of maximum arial drag) and bending forces due to shear wind loads.

We created drawings, CNC, Waterjet files, and manufactured everything in house. I unfortunately cannot share anything too detailed! The rocket finally launched in April 2025, check out the team video below.