05-26-2006, 01:48 PM
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BARCLONE Rocketry
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Mobile, Alabama
Posts: 5,357
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Carl@Semroc
It may not be quite that bad in real life. We plug in closer densities in Rocksim. We use:
Mat Board 4-ply = 44.36 lb/ft3 (.050")
Mat Board 2-ply = 48.25 lb/ft3 (.025")
Spiral/Glassine = 53.2 lb/ft3
Balsa = 7.0 lb/ft3 (Nose Cones average, 6.0 through 8.0)
Balsa = 8.0 lb/ft3 (Fins average, 6.0 through 10.0)
These densities give us closer to actual results than the defaults in Rocksim.
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Actually, Carl, it confirms my observation in RS. Your 4-ply mat weighs in at 6 times the weight of the nose cone balsa, and your 2-ply weighs in at 6 times the weight of your fin balsa. The results come in the same -- even with so much material removed, the mat board fins weigh considerably more than their equivalent balsa counterparts. Up to six times as heavy.
If there is one advantage of using the mat board, it's the elimination of having to orient the board along a grain pattern. It's uniformly stable in all directions. I'll take a look and see if I can trim out some of the fin pattern and lighten up the final weight. |