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Overview of Nose Cone Design
Hypersonic optimum The shape of the nose cone for Hermes 2 is a hypersonic optimum (AKA 3/4 power series, fineness ratio 5.5:1) with a 2" straight section for the payload coupler
5.5:1 fineness ratio
10 layers of fiberglass, around 0.125"
NC tip material: __________
What size bolt?
Phenolic washerto fit into. For the first attempt, we applied ablative coating (Fibreglast Systems 3000 epoxy with 15% by weight of phenolic microballoons) straight into a mold that we routed out of MDF, and used 10 layers of fiberglass (5.7 oz S-glass) on either side of the mold. The mold was prepared with wax and Fibrelease before the ablative coating was added, and vacuum-packed after the fiberglass layup was complete. The thickness of the fiberglass was around 0.125". The ablative coating broke off in several parts when the part was released from the mold, so for the second attempt (flight nose cone), we applied the ablative coating after taking the part out of the mold.
Fiberglass Nose Cone Manufacturing Procedure
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