CO₂ Deployment Mechanism
Designed and machined CO₂ deployment hardware with a three-person team; completed a component firing at a reported chamber pressure of 0.011 atm. Integrated CO₂ separation testing is pending.
Reduced-pressure charge test complete; integrated CO₂ test in preparation
Component Firing & Redesign Basis
Two sea-level integrated black-powder tests exposed a failed deployment charge in each test and parachute damage in the second. I helped replace that deployment method with cartridge-piercing hardware; the Catclaw tie-cutting releases remain separate components.
Standalone vinyl-charge trials had appeared repeatable; the integrated results exposed a gap between component trials and the packed subsystem. I authored the integrated vinyl-charge black-powder test SOP and led the second integrated test, including crew briefings and fire/abort decisions. My co-lead led the first test while I was in Australia. Post-test inspection and failure assessment were collaborative with teammates and our team director. End-seal manufacturing variability is the leading working explanation; neighboring-charge damage is a secondary hypothesis inferred afterward. The root cause remains unconfirmed. Integrated-test history and hypotheses.
I sized the mechanism and contributed CAD, drawings, machining, and component testing. All three teammates contributed to the design and fabrication; we iterated one another’s work.
This mechanism is part of the wider separation and recovery subsystem. The overall architecture, parachute-load analysis, redundancy, and vehicle integration are documented on the subsystem page.
View the separation and recovery subsystem
Design, Analysis & Manufacturing
I proposed the CO₂ replacement and sized, machined, and integrated the custom deployment hardware. CAD, fabrication, and component testing were shared across our three-person team.
- System Sizing: Calculated a 4.66 psi separation requirement for four nylon shear pins plus the estimated interface friction. Ideal-gas sizing predicted 10.9 g of CO₂ for the modeled free volume, providing analytical margin with a 16 g cartridge.
- Pressure & Stress Analysis: Calculated maximum pressure and Lamé stresses to guide material removal from the thick-wall housing. The governing analytical result was 2.01 FOS in hoop stress, with 6.31 FOS against internal-thread shear.
- Manufacturing: Produced Fusion 360 CAD, engineering drawings, and machined parts for the piercing mechanism.
- Testing & Iteration: Tested the charge hardware under reduced pressure and prepared the complete subsystem for an upcoming integrated CO₂ test.
Calculation basis: The 4.66 psi separation estimate includes four nylon shear pins and estimated interface friction. The 10.9 g ideal-gas estimate and housing margins are analytical screening results; free volume, gas temperature, pressure convention, and governing housing pressure must be stated before reproducing the model. Full-system verification is pending.
Piercer section view with cartridge upward; blue marks the glove-tip charge location
Test Status & Next Steps
I helped initiate and operate the reduced-pressure component tests and am preparing the integrated-test SOP. My co-lead designed the instrumentation, wrote the acquisition script, and analyzed the pressure trace below.
The upcoming test will evaluate the piercers in the full recovery assembly, including shear pins, parachutes, lines, release devices, and wiring. See the recovery page for the architecture and integrated-test history.
For equal internal pressure, lower ambient pressure increases the differential across the nosecone interface. Released gas mass alone does not establish that internal pressure: temperature, leakage, free volume, and release timing also govern deployment.