A problem frequently encountered in engineering design concerns the positioning of a number of components having varying shapes and sizes within a container or housing. Usually, the housing has fixed conformation and dimensions for technical or esthetic reasons, or because it must comply with some standard mounting arrangement. A way must be found to place all of the parts within the shell, subject to a set of constraints on relative positions, inter-unit spacings and the accessibility of controls and connections. The mock-up method has proved to be a satisfactory approach in the design of rocket payloads at the National Research Council. In planning and preparing a rocket payload, space must be allocated to the experimenters' packages within the cylindrical magnesium forward-body casting which forms the skin of the rocket payload. An efficient, economical method of achieving a layout with a minimum of error and difficulty was devised using full-size plastic models. Models of the instrumentation packages were made easily and quickly from lightweight, inexpensive polystyrene or polyurethane foam, and a cylinder of clear acrylic plastic was used to simulate the forward-body casting. (Author)
Plastic Models Aid Payload Planning for Rockets
1964
2 pages
Report
No indication
English
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