General Discussion

The first meeting of the Kelvin Aerospace Laboratory focused on introducing the club’s vision, establishing direction, and discussing initial goals. Key points included:

Mission: To provide students with hands-on opportunities to explore aerospace technology, engineering, physics, and electronics through collaborative projects and research.

Core Objectives: The club provides participants with hands-on engineering experience through project-based learning in aerospace-related technologies. Furthermore, through projects and science outreach, it aims to inspire more students to pursue engineering-related fields.

Organization and Communication:

• The club uses a dedicated Discord server as the primary platform for discussion, coordination, and resource sharing.

• Regular meetings will be held every Tuesday during lunchtime, unless otherwise noted, to review the week’s progress and determine the direction for the following week.

• Club members are encouraged to invite interested students to join the club to participate in discussions and project work.

Technical & Project Discussions

During the meeting, members discussed early project ideas, safety considerations, and potential learning resources.

About Fluids and Pressure Vessels:

• Since the plan was to use ethanol at room temperature as a liquid fuel, members discussed the possibility of using liquid nitrogen instead of ethanol as a coolant, to prevent the engine from melting down through regenerative cooling under high-temperature conditions. Another option, LOX, was also discussed. However, due to the difficulty of storing liquid nitrogen for long periods of time and the significant expense of a dewar tank, liquid nitrogen was considered a backup option. This is achieved by renting dewars and liquid nitrogen on the day of the engine test.

• The discussion also involved fuel acquisition, with the plan to produce the required oxygen through water electrolysis.

About Design and Manufacturing:

• The discussion participants plan to use the Ansys Student Suite for physics simulation, which includes Ansys Mechanical™, Fluent®, Discovery, and CFX™® software, which is free for students for one year.

• The meeting emphasized that the testing must comply with city fire regulations. Small-scale field testing will be conducted within a specific area, and later testing will take place at a specific location outside the city.

• Members also suggested supplementing their learning with CornellX.

About the Meeting:

• The first meeting established that barring unforeseen circumstances, all meetings would be held every Tuesday at noon, lasting 35 minutes. Attendance expectations were also reminded to ensure continued project progress. All members will maintain communication via Discord.

Next Step

• Investigate and research the software, hardware, and resources required to design, test, and manufacture liquid rocket engines.
• Improve project direction planning and specific cooperation methods, such as real-time collaboration on electronic design and CAD parts.
• Research the feasibility of the direction and prepare a report.