Rocket Design Studio - Educational Aerospace Simulator

Student Concept 01

Side-view geometry, propulsion architecture, TPS zoning, center-of-gravity / center-of-pressure locations, and normalized heat / load distributions.

Model current

Thermal hot spotStructural concentrationCenter of gravityCenter of pressureTPS zone

Flight condition

Aerothermal indicators

Aerodynamic and shell loads

Static stability screen

Likely high-load regions

Zones are ranked from first-order correlations and geometry. Values indicate relative design attention, not qualification limits.

Zone	Thermal	Structural	Selected protection	Why it is important

Engineering checks

Compatibility, stability, geometric, and model-validity observations.

Model basis and classroom use

The simulator intentionally exposes the relationships among Mach number, altitude, geometry, stability, heat flux, dynamic pressure, and structural load paths.

Atmosphere and speed

V = M sqrt(gamma R T)

A layered standard-atmosphere approximation supplies temperature, pressure, density, speed of sound, and viscosity through 80 km.

Dynamic pressure

q = 0.5 rho V^2

Dynamic pressure drives the first-order aerodynamic force and structural-load estimates.

Ideal stagnation temperature

T0/T = 1 + (gamma - 1) M^2 / 2

Shown as a perfect-gas indicator. At high enthalpy, dissociation, ionization, variable specific heat, radiation, and nonequilibrium effects matter.

Stagnation-point heating

q_dot = k sqrt(rho/Rn) V^3

A Sutton-Graves-type Earth-air screening correlation estimates convective heating at the nose. It is most meaningful in hypersonic, high-enthalpy applications.

Static stability

Static margin = (xCP - xCG) / diameter

Nose and fin normal-force contributions are combined with a simplified Barrowman-style method. Positive margin places center of pressure aft of center of gravity.

Thin-shell indicators

sigma_h = p r / t; sigma_b = M r / I

Equivalent hoop, axial, and bending stresses provide scale awareness only; they are not substitutes for detailed FEA, buckling, fatigue, or hot-structure analysis.

Important: This is an educational, first-order screening model. It is not suitable for flight certification, hardware release, range safety, propulsion sizing, trajectory optimization, TPS thickness design, or structural substantiation. Real design requires validated CFD, aerothermochemistry, wind-tunnel / arc-jet data, trajectory-coupled heating, propulsion-cycle analysis, material allowables, FEA, aeroelasticity, uncertainty analysis, and test correlation.