openrocket/core/doc/techdoc/techdoc.tex

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  pdftitle={OpenRocket technical documentation},
  pdfauthor={Sampo Niskanen},
  pdfsubject={Technical documentation of the OpenRocket simulation software},
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\begin{center}
{\LARGE\bf OpenRocket technical documentation}

{\large For OpenRocket version 13.05}

\vspace{-3mm}
2013-05-10

\vspace{10mm}
{\Large Sampo Niskanen}


\vspace{80mm}
Based on the Master's thesis \cite{thesis}

\vspace{-1mm}
\mbox{\hspace{-6pt}
\large\it Development of an Open Source model rocket simulation software}

\end{center}

\vfill


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\begin{center}
{\Large\bf Thesis or technical documentation?}
\end{center}

The OpenRocket simulation software was originally developed as the
Master's thesis project of Sampo Niskanen, including its written
part
{\it ``Development of an Open Source model rocket simulation software''}
\cite{thesis}.  The thesis is used as the basis of this technical
documentation, which is updated to account for later development in the
software.  This document often still refers to itself as a thesis, as
no systematic updating of this fact has yet been performed.

While the original thesis is available online under a Creative Commons
no-derivatives license, this document is available under a freer
share-alike license.

The latest version of the technical documentation is available on the
OpenRocket website, \url{http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/}.

\vspace{10mm}

\begin{center}
{\Large\bf Version history}
\end{center}

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{lp{120mm}}
2010-04-06 & Initial revision.  Updates the roll angle effect on three- and
four-fin configurations in Section~\ref{update-roll-angle}.
(OpenRocket 1.0.0) \\
2011-07-18 & Updated Chapter~\ref{chap-software} for updates in the
software.  (OpenRocket 1.1.6) \\
2013-05-10 & Added Section~\ref{sec-tumbling-bodies} with drag
estimation of tumbling bodies.  (OpenRocket 13.05)
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

\vfill



%%%%%  Quotation


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\mbox{}
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{\it ``No. Coal mining may be your life, but it's not mine. I'm never
  going down there again. I wanna go into space.''}
\vspace{5mm}

\hspace{10mm}\parbox{130mm}{
Amateur rocketeer Homer Hickam, Jr. in the movie October Sky (1999), based
on a true story.\\

Hickam later became an engineer at NASA, working in spacecraft design
and crew training.}
\vfill



%%%%%%%%


\tableofcontents

%\listoffigures
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%\listoftables

\newpage
\section*{List of symbols and abbreviations}

{\bf Symbols}
\nopagebreak

\begin{tabular}{p{20mm}p{105mm}}

$A$           & Area \\
\Afin         & Area of one fin \\
$A_{\rm plan}$& Planform area \\
\Aref         & Reference area \\
$A_{\rm wet}$ & Wetted area \\
$\AR$         & Aspect ratio of a fin, $2s^2/\Afin$ \\
$c$           & Speed of sound \\
$\bar c$      & Mean aerodynamic chord length of a fin \\
$c(y)$        & Chord length of a fin at spanwise position $y$ \\

$C_A$         & Axial drag force coefficient \\
$C_D$         & Drag force coefficient \\
$C_f$         & Skin friction drag coefficient \\
$C_l$         & Roll moment coefficient \\
$C_{ld}$      & Roll damping moment coefficient \\
$C_{lf}$      & Roll forcing moment coefficient \\

$C_m$         & Pitch moment coefficient \\
\Cma          & Pitch moment coefficient derivative, 
                $\frac{\partial C_m}{\partial \alpha}$ \\

$C_N$         & Normal force coefficient \\
\CNa          & Normal force coefficient derivative,
                $\frac{\partial C_N}{\partial \alpha}$ \\

$d$           & Reference length, the rocket diameter \\
$D$           & Drag force \\
$f_B$         & Rocket fineness ratio, $L/d$ \\
$L$           & The rocket length \\
$m$           & Pitch moment \\
$M$           & Mach number \\
$N$           & Normal force; Number of fins \\
$p$           & Air pressure \\
$r(x)$        & Body or component radius at position $x$ \\
$R$           & Reynolds number \\
$s$           & Spanwise length of one fin \\
$T$           & Air temperature \\
$V$           & Volume \\
$v_0$         & Free-stream velocity \\
$x$, $X$      & Position along the rocket centerline \\
$y$           & Spanwise position \\
\end{tabular}

\begin{tabular}{p{20mm}p{105mm}}
$\alpha$      & Angle of attack \\
$\beta$       & $\sqrt{|M^2-1|}$ \\
$\gamma$      & Specific heat ratio, for air $\gamma=1.4$ \\
$\Gamma_c$    & Fin midchord sweep angle \\
$\delta$      & Fin cant angle \\
$\eta$        & Airflow inclination angle over a fin \\
$\theta$      & Roll angle \\
$\Lambda$     & Dihedral angle between a fin and the direction of airflow \\
$\nu$         & Kinematic viscosity of air \\
$\xi$         & Distance from rotation axis \\
$\rho$        & Density of air \\
$\omega$      & Angular velocity \\

\end{tabular}

\vspace{10mm}
{\bf Abbreviations}
\nopagebreak

\begin{tabular}{p{20mm}p{105mm}}
CFD & Computational fluid dynamics \\
CG  & Center of gravity \\
CP  & Center of pressure \\
LE  & Leading edge \\
MAC & Mean aerodynamic chord \\
RK4 & Runge-Kutta 4 integration method \\
UI  & User interface \\
\end{tabular}




\pagebreak
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\include{chapter-introduction}
\include{chapter-basics-of-model-rockets}
\include{chapter-aerodynamic-properties}
\include{chapter-flight-simulation}
\include{chapter-software}
\include{chapter-experimental}
\include{chapter-conclusion}


\clearpage
\vspace*{1cm}
\section*{Acknowledgments}

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to M.Sc.~Timo Sailaranta
for his invaluable advice and consultation on the aerodynamic
simulation of rockets.  Without his input the creation of the
OpenRocket software and Master's thesis would have been exceedingly
laborious.  I would also like to thank Prof.~Rolf Stenberg for
supervising the writing of the Master's thesis.

I am also deeply grateful for my parents Jouni and Riitta, my entire
family, friends and teachers, who have always encouraged me onwards in
my life and studies.  Above all I would like to thank my brother,
Antti~J. Niskanen, for being an inspiration throughout my life and
also for building the magnetometer logger used in the experimental
flights; and my wife Merli Lahtinen, for her patience and loving
understanding for my passion towards rocketry.




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% FLUID-DYNAMIC DRAG
% Practical Information on AERODYNAMICDRAG and HYDRODYNAMIC RESISTANCE
% Sighard F. Hoerner (Dr.-Ing.)
% Published by the Author 1958
%
% Chap II - Skin-friction drag
%   laminaarinen, turbulentti, ym.
% Chap III - Pressure drag
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\end{thebibliography}




\appendix

\include{chapter-appendices}




\end{document}