ROCKET GROUND VIBRATION TESTING

In Preparation for the 2024 Spaceport America Cup my Experimental Dynamics Project Team and I planned, conducted, analyzed, and Presents the results of a Ground Vibration Testing Campaign for the 2024 BYU Rocketry High Power Team's Rocket, Alta. 

A roving hammer Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) test was conducted with 5 accelerometer inputs and 28 impact locations. A single tri-axis accelerometer was placed at the nosecone tip, a single-axis accelerometer on the middle of the rocket, and one single-axis accelerometer on the fin were.  The hammer locations consisted of two sets of 10 points along the length of the rocket offset by 90 degrees and 8 points on the fins of the rocket, 2 on each fin. 

 Next, another member of the team created a finite element model (FEM) of the rocket to compare with experimental results. Abaqus CAE Software was used to develop a 1-Dimensional Beam model of the rocket with varying densities and stiffnesses through the sections of the rocket to model the rocket more accurately. 

A Linear Perturbation modal analysis was then conducted in Abaqus resulting in the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the model. These mode shapes a frequencies were compared to the natural frequencies and mode shapes gathered experimentally.