Astrorizzicist is a ~95% 3D printed high-power rocket that I designed over a few months then used for my Level 2 High-power rocketry certification through NAR.
For starters, this is NOT a good rocket to use for your first high-power rocket! Many things are not standard with this rocket and a lot of work is still needed before this rocket leaves the ground. Below I have a list of how everything works and is put together, but is by no means a complete list, you should not just print this thing and hope it flys by threading it together and that's it, there were many learning curves along the way.
Overview of Design
- All sections of the rocket thread together or are a coupler joint, the only epoxy used on this rocket was the cardboard motor liner so that the PLA didn't melt.
- Standard dual deploy design with separation at aft portion of AV Bay and at the nose cone.
- My version of the rocket was printed entirely in PLA primarily using Elegoo PLA, nothing fancy, its what I had a lot of and am most confident/familiar with when printing.
- Entire rocket was printed on an Ender 3 Pro with just a direct drive but the direct drive is not needed for any prints.
- I have only tested the 38mm motor retainer assembly and have not tested the 54mm version but have included it.
- The AV Sled used dual EasyMini's and the Easymini 160 mAh battery, the sled is not universal.
- The nose cone bulkhead has an eggfinder mini attachment/universal mounting points along with a 400 mAh EasyMini batter slot.
- I did not sand any of the outer surfaces for smoothness, wanted to keep flights lower for higher success rate and not loosing the rocket.
Print Settings Used (Not exact, this is what I remember)
- 5 walls on basically everything
- 5 top and bottom layers on everything, bulkheads used 10 top and bottom
- ~35% infill on everything
Modifications to fly
- Sand motor retainer body assembly to fit motor
- Blue Tape around Main Forward & AV Aft coupler portion.
- Super Lube/Lithium Grease on all threads (Necessary! First ejection test proved that air was leaking at thread points but was fixed with grease).
- Aluminum Tape on the Motor Retainer Cap on portions contacting the motor (Refer to pictures), Cork on the inside of the retainer body near the motor aft closure.
- Additional Rail Guide printed and epoxied onto Drogue Forward section later on (Not included in the 3D model in case the threads didn't align).
- Duct tape in threads of Nose Cone bulkhead as nothing is preventing the bulkhead from loosening and there are not that many threads here.
- Likely some other small ones that you will need to figure out yourself, remember, this is not a beginner HPR
Flight 1
- Flight 1 was on an H550, everything worked well on ascent to ~1100ft, and mach .2 with ~11 g of acceleration. On decent, the Drogue Forward section broke in half during the drogue ejection charge, flight recovery was still nominal afterwards with complete deployment with no additional damage on landing
Flight 2 (L2 flight)
- Flight 2 was on a J270, the flight was perfect to 3000ft, mach .4, and 9g accel. Added internal ribbing and thickened some portions of the airframe to mitigate ejection damage in all portions that are exposed to the ejection charges.
My Rocket setup for flights
- 58" Topflight standard main parachute releasing at 800' from primary charge
- 12" Topflight standard drogue parachute releasing at apogee from primary charge
- 1/4" Kevlar with 20' in each section
- dual Easy minis, redundant at 600' and apogee +1 s
- Eggfinder mini in NC
- Motors plugged for both Flights
- Stability came out to 2.07 at launch for J270 flight at a weight of ~7.4 lbs
I've included all of the stl files used for the rocket along with the STEP file of the entire assembly and .f3d files of individual parts for easy adjusting. If you decide to actually print this thing to try and fly, feel free to message me and I can try and help with any problems or adjust files as needed to improve the design.
Rocketry Forum Post Link which has some more pictures and explanations about this rocket.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/astrorizzicist-my-attempt-at-a-mostly-3d-printed-l2-capable-rocket.183783/
Happy Flying!
Picture credits: Some me, some are pictures from club members
Print Settings
Printer Brand:
Creality
Printer:
Ender 3 Pro
Rafts:
Doesn't Matter
Supports:
Doesn't Matter
Resolution:
.16
Infill:
35
Filament:
Elegoo PLA
Notes:
.16 Resolution for threads helps, used .2 and adaptive for most prints
Category: Hobby
INFX_TryHard
