ASReG Staff
Prof Glen Snedden
Prof Snedden has the following qualifications: PhD FRAeS PrEng (SA) CEng(UK). He rejoined the UKZN family after twenty-four years of experience in engineering design, consultancy and research in the fields of turbomachinery design, aerodynamics and heat transfer, ventilation and wind tunnel experimentation at the CSIR.
Much of this work has involved collaborations throughout the international gas turbine community (SNECMA, Volvo Aero (GKN Aerospace), TU Darmstadt, Avio SpA, National Research Council of Canada, US Navy, South African Air Force, Canadian Air Force and Rolls Royce Corporation) and with many Universities in South Africa.
He is the treasurer of the International Society for Airbreathing Engines which organizes a conference every two years and an active member and Fellow of the local division of the Royal Aeronautical Society. The Aeronautical Society of South Africa.
Dr Graham Smith
Dr Smith completed his PhD in the Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge before joining Rolls Royce Aero Division as a senior Compressor Engineer. This experience has found application in ASReG supervising the design of a high pressure ratio fuel pump and matched impulse turbine suitable for a satellite launch vehicle. He maintains a strong interest in fluid dynamics and heat transfer and is also currently working on wave powered desalination and micro hydro research projects.
Tel: +27 31 260 7379
Email: smithg@ukzn.ac.za
Dr Jean Pitot
Dr Pitot is a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and holds BScEng and MScEng degrees from the institution. He co-leads the Aerospace Systems Research Group and has research interests in the fields of concentrating solar power, computational modelling and simulation and hybrid rocket propulsion. He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and conducted research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013 as a Fulbright Scholarship recipient.
Tel: +27 31 260 3200
Email: pitot@ukzn.ac.za
Prof Michael Brooks
Prof Brooks is the Academic Leader of UKZN’s Mechanical Engineering department and a registered Professional Engineer. He is a co-founder of the Aerospace Systems Research Group and manages the Phoenix Hybrid Rocket Sounding Programme. He holds a BScEng from the University of Natal, and an MScEng and PhD from Stellenbosch University. His research interests include thermal management systems, solar radiometry and rocket propulsion. He is a member of the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering, a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a member of the AIAA Terrestrial Energy Systems Technical Committee and an alumnus of the Fulbright Scholarship Programme.
Tel: +27 31 260 3201/7667
Email: brooks@ukzn.ac.za
Mr Timothy Velthuysen
Mr Velthuysen is a lecturer in the school of Mechanical Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where he obtained a BScEng and MScEng degree. He is currently pursuing a PhD in the area of gelled propellant rocket motors. His interests include rocket propulsion, fluid mechanics, and heat and mass transfer.
Tel: +27 31 260 1213
Email: velthuysent@ukzn.ac.za
Graduate Students
Aravind Arunakirinathar
MScEng: Analysis of Potential Small Satellite Missions Launched from the Overberg Test Range
Mr Arunakirinathar is a BScEng graduate of UKZN. His MScEng research aims to identify a range of commercial satellite missions that can viably be launched from the Denel Overberg Test Range, in the Western Cape, using a microsatellite launch vehicle. The study is undertaken through the use of orbital mechanics modelling tools and aims to predict and evaluate the operational characteristics associated with such orbital missions. This project forms part of the ASReG SAFFIRE liquid rocket engine development programme.
Byron Blakey-Milner
MScEng: Experimental Characterization and Optimization of Additively Manufactured Rocket Engine Propellant Pumps
This project entails the development and characterization of additively manufactured impeller and volute designs for the SAFFIRE flight weight engines. The particular focus will be on applying design for additive manufacturing concepts for weight reduction, cost reduction and part consolidation of the propellant pumps. The aim is to design, manufacture and test the pump components to assess the viability and advantages associated with using additive manufacturing supply chains. This study includes both physical and non-destructive testing methods such as X-ray tomography.
Celimpilo Damane
MScEng: Characterisation of Ablative Rocket Engine Materials
The project involves studying the ablation behavior of compression molded phenolic composites under an oxyacetylene torch environment. The project will cover the rationale behind selecting suitable candidate materials for comparative evaluations, composite formulations for experimental testing and final material for fabrication of rocket engine ablative liner components.
Chikhar Maharaj
PhD: Start-up Transience in Electric-pump-fed Liquid Rocket Engines
This project aims to investigate various start-up transients for liquid rocket engines, and design a start-up sequence to enable fast ignition and stable motor operation. A mathematical model for start-up transients will then be developed using parameters such as thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, fluid mechanic properties, chemical kinetics and latencies of the ignition system. The model will then be used to produce a series of theoretical outputs that characterise the start-up transience. Relevant data will be recorded from the SAFFIRE liquid rocket engine and used to refine the model.
Duran Martin
PhD: Characterising and Predicting Performance of Injection Elements for LOX/RP-1 Liquid Rocket Engines
Duran Martin completed his MSc in the Aerospace Systems Research Group with the design of an injector for a LOX/RP-1 liquid propellant rocket engine for the SAFFIRE programme. He is continuing his research in liquid rocket injectors through experimental and computational analysis. Key research areas are atomisation and combustion, combustion stability and manufacturing processes for injector components.
Ewan Slabber
MScEng: The Design and Implementation of Rocket Performance Simulation Software to Predict Sub-Orbital Rocket Flight Trajectories and Capabilities
Ewan Slabber is an MScEng student in the Discipline of Mechanical Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he obtained a BScEng in Mechanical Engineering. His MScEng project involves the design and implementation of a high-level language software solution to model trajectories and streamline the design process for different aerospace vehicles. Launch vehicle design specifications will be investigated virtually and then validated using experimental data gathered from ASReG launch campaigns. The software tool will be used to generate trajectories and safety footprints for future flight vehicles yet to be built and launched.
Jared Sabbagha
MScEng: Static Stability Optimisation of Sounding Rockets through Aeroelastic Optimisation of Fin Design
Jared Sabbagha is currently a postgraduate student in the School of Engineering at University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), where he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (summa cum laude). His Master’s degree project is part of the Phoenix Sounding Rocket Programme which operates under the Aerospace Systems Research Group (ASReG) of the Discipline of Mechanical Engineering. The focus of the project is the development of flight stabilising fins for existing vehicles in the Phoenix programme, namely the Phoenix-B Mk I and the Phoenix-B Mk II. The research question relates to the design, manufacture and testing of two sets of fins for two sounding rockets, a set for each vehicle, to achieve the optimal static stability during flight and to guard against and prevent catastrophic failure of the fins and rocket flight due to aeroelastic behaviours. Measures to guard against other potential failure phenomena such as inertial roll coupling (roll resonance and roll lock-in) and coning motion may also be investigated and employed.
Mario Mouzouris
MScEng: Flow Control in Liquid Rocket Engine Propellant Systems
Flow control in liquid rocket engines is essential to their proper operation. Industrial valves are suitable for ground-based testing of engines, but flight-weight equipment is difficult to procure and costly. This project focuses on the development of a flight-weight rocket engine propellant valve for use on the SAFFIRE engine. The valve is expected to provide flexible control with adequate safety margins in terms of operating pressure and actuation.
Mthobisi Tshomela
MSc Eng: Development of a Payload Bay for the Phoenix-1C Sounding Rocket
This project involves the design of payload bay subsystems for the Phoenix-1C rocket with minimum mass. Lightweight avionics and telemetry mounts will be designed for easy attachment of Flight computers and antennae. The payload bay is designed to accommodate three payloads, four cameras to get the footage during flight. The aim is to design a payload module which will be recovered by a parachute, be able to withstand deployment loading, and sealed to prevent water ingress during ocean landing.
Nino Wunderlin
PhD: System optimisation of an electrically pressurised multistage launch vehicle
Nino Wunderlin completed his MSc in the Aerospace Systems Research Group with the design of an ablatively cooled liquid propellant rocket engine combustion chamber. He is continuing his research in system level optimisation of an electrically pressurised multistage launch vehicle which can deliver small satellites into low earth orbit. His research interests include, rocket propulsion, launch vehicle design and optimisation, and computational and numerical modelling.
Phillip Gyasi-Agyei
MScEng: Experimental Characterization of Hybrid Rocket Motor Performance with the Addition of Fuel Grain Additives
This project will investigate the effects of fuel additives such as aluminum on the performance of a hybrid rocket motor. The primary activity will comprise hot-fire testing of laboratory-scale motors from which data such as fuel grain regression rate will be obtained. The aim is to rank the various grain and additive combinations so as to improve the combustion efficiency, design and flight performance of future hybrid rockets developed by ASReG.
Ryan Cooper
MScEng: Design and Manufacture of a Liquid Rocket Engine Injector Test Rig
This project concerns the design and manufacture of a liquid rocket engine injector test rig. The equipment will be used to validate the modelled performance (flow rate and pressure drop) of a previously designed injector for a small satellite launch vehicle engine (SAFFIRE). The SAFFIRE engine is intended to power a rocket that is able to place a 75 kg payload into a 400 km sun-synchronous orbit from a South African launch site. The project will provide valuable test data for the SAFFIRE programme. The project will help validate whether the CFD studies previously conducted on the injector accurately predict the flow rate and pressure drop through the device
Dr Sarisha Harrylal
MScEng: Roll Control System for a Suborbital Vehicle
This project involves the design of a Roll Control System (RCS) for a single engine, finned, suborbital vehicle to decrease the dispersion from manufacturing and thrust asymmetries. The optimal roll rate to avoid pitch roll lock in and ensure dynamic stability is to be determined analytically using aerodynamic and flight data from a semi-empirical prediction code and HYROPS (in-house flight trajectory simulation tool). The target roll rate with be used to determine the roll control system thrust and fuel requirements. The RCS will employ a cold gas system comprising of pressurised Nitrogen, 2 sets of tangentially directed nozzles (to accelerate the flow) and solenoid valve (to control flow) to achieve the system set point.
Tasneem Essop
MScEng: Analysis of Commercial Sounding Rocket Operations at the Denel Overberg Test Range
Ms Essop is an MScEng student in the Discipline of Mechanical Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where she obtained a BScEng (cum laude) in Mechanical Engineering. Her research involves the analysis of vehicle flight performance during proposed sounding rocket operations at the Overberg Test Range (OTR) near Cape Agulhas. The research is part of a broader effort that includes the development of a permanent launch gantry at OTR. This study includes flight dynamics simulations to understand and evaluate sounding rocket trajectories and safety footprints for various launch and meteorological conditions. Ms Essop is on the Phoenix hybrid rocket launch team as a simulations engineer.
Thabang Mdhluli
MScEng: Development of an Injector Test Rig for Shear-Thinning Gel Propellants
Thabang Mdhluli is an MScEng student at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN), where he obtained his Mechanical Engineering degree (BScEng). His Masters project is focused on developing a test rig to study injection and impingement characteristics of gelled fuels through a single-element injector which allows for droplet characterization and qualitative analysis. The objective of the test rig is to obtain useful quantitative (droplet size) and qualitative (web thickness and dispersion) data to facilitate optimum injector design.
Vedanth Reddy
MSc Eng: CFD multi-objective optimization of fuel and oxidizer electric turbopumps
The project involves improving the hydrodynamic performance of the fuel and oxidizer pumps being developed for the SAFFIRE project using a combination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), surrogate modelling, and multi-objective optimization techniques. Artificial neural network (ANN) surrogate techniques will be investigated to create a meta-model of the design space using numerical simulations as inputs. Pareto-based techniques will be used to identify optimized geometries from the generated design space that satisfy the multi-objectives of interest. The research results will supplement the experimental pump test rig data and provide an optimization process applicable for future pumps.
Vulinhlanhla Mchunu
MScEng: Filament Wound Composite Oxidiser Tank for the Phoenix-1B Mk II Hybrid Sounding Rocket
Mr Mchunu is the MScEng Candidate at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and holds BScEng degree from the institution. His MScEng project entails the development of an enhanced Phoenix-1B Mk II composite oxidiser tank for use in the new vehicle. This will involve improving the structural efficiency of the composite oxidiser tank by minimising its mass. The research will include the determination of a tank liner material compatible with the oxidiser, in this case liquid nitrous oxide. A new Phoenix 1-B Mk II vehicle will now be developed for an intended launch during November 2020.
Yashik Singh
MScEng: Development of a rocket engine electric turbopump test rig
This project aims to design and manufacture an electric turbopump test rig capable of delivering the pressure and flow rates required by the SAFFIRE combustion chamber. The project entails the design of impellers for both LOX and RP-1 pumps as well as the selection of appropriate components such as a brushless DC motor to deliver the necessary system power and speed. Operation of the rig will allow for cavitation and flow characteristics of each impeller to be validated against calculations and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) performed.
Associated Advisors
- Professor Anton du Plessis (Stellenbosch University)
- Professor Laurent Dala (Northumbria University)
Alumni
2022 – 2020
- Kirsty Veale – PhD: Structural Characterisation and Response Modelling of Paraffin Rocket Motor Fuel Grains (2022).
- Phillip Gyasi-Agyei – MScEng: Preliminary Design Considerations for a Liquid Rocket Commercial Launch Vehicle Upper Stage (2021).
- Ryan Cooper – MscEng: Liquid Rocket Engine Injector Test Rig (2021).
- Dylan Williams – MScEng: Design of the Phoenix-1B Mk. II Hybrid Rocket Composite Pressure Tank (2020).
2019
- Duran Martin – MScEng: Injector Design for a LOX/RP-1 Liquid Rocket Engine (2019).
- Nino Wunderlin – MScEng: Design of a Liquid Propellant Rocket Engine Combustion Chamber (2019).
2018
- Kai Broughton – MScEng: Motor Design for a Sub-orbital Hybrid Rocket (2018).
- Chikhar Maharaj – MScEng: Performance Characterisation of Metal Additives in Paraffin Wax Hybrid Rocket Fuel Grains (2018).
- Creason Chetty – MScEng: The design and hydrodynamic analysis of a novel kerosene electro-pump for a modular liquid rocket engine (2018).
- Nalendran Singh – MScEng: The hydrodynamic design of a liquid oxygen electro-pump for a liquid rocket engine (SAFFIRE) (2018).
- Raisa Theba – MScEng: An Investigation of Regression Rate in Paraffin-Based Hybrid Rocket Fuel Grains (2018).
- Timothy Velthuysen – MScEng: Closed loop throttle control of a hybrid rocket motor (2018).
2017 – 2014
- Udil Balmogim – MScEng: Design and Development of the Phoenix-1B Hybrid Sounding Rocket (2017).
- Donald Fitzgerald – MScEng: Turbine design for a commercial launch vehicle engine (2016).
- Luke Philogene – MScEng: Development of a Universal Impeller Test Rig (2015).
- Matthew Richings – MScEng: The Prediction of Cavitation in High Speed Centrifugal Pumps (2015).
- Jonathan Smyth – MScEng: Design of Kerosene Turbopump for a Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine (2014).
2013
- Bernard Genevieve – MScEng: Development of a Hybrid Sounding Rocket Motor (2013).
- Fiona Leverone – MScEng: Performance Modelling and Simulation of a 100 km Apogee Hybrid Sounding Rocket (2013).
- Matthew Page – MScEng: Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Loop Heat Pipe for Terrestrial Thermal Management Applications (2013).
- Seffat Chowdhury – MScEng: Design and Performance Simulation of a Hybrid Sounding Rocket (2013).
- Sven du Clou – MScEng:A Semi-Passive Thermal Management System for Terrestrial and Space Applications (2013).