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Low Weight Design Of A Pressure-Fed System For A Small Payload Launch Vehicle, Lucero Buendia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have become of great interests to aerospace industries because of their low-cost, lightweight and their tailorable mechanical properties. In aerospace structures, for example, heavy metals have been used in cryogenic fuel and oxidizer tanks for over 50 years. However, weight savings can be substantial if materials such as composites are used instead. From Delta IV heavy-lift launch vehicle it is known that cryogenic composite tanks can save approximately up to 30% of weight in fuel and oxidizer tanks. Although there is a wealth of studies in the mechanical behavior of composites at room temperature, …