In early 2015 a team of rocketry enthusiasts launched a 1:1 scale V2 rocket – the
culmination of a club project spanning 18-24 odd months if I vaguely recall. My involvement
was to develop the pyroless separation system that would separate the 3 sections
of the rocket allowing the recovery chutes to be dragged out by the inertia of the
mating section. The system worked flawlessly albeit with much anxiety preceding the
event due to some peripherally related issues.
The fundamental concept of the separation devices used for the colossal 450kg
rocket was similar to the device described in these series of web pages, however
the detailed design was significantly different. To minimise the mass of the devices,
I chose to house the complete valve mechanism within the CO2 chamber – not house
the CO2 within the complete device. This reduced casing mass and shaft mass significantly
whist still maintaining plenty of throughput when deployed. A youtube video illustration
of the working design of these separation devices is available here:
