MULTISTAGE ROCKETS

SEPARATION TECHNIQUES

By,
GOPI B
10BAE17

MULTISTAGE ROCKETS
Amultistage(ormulti-stage)rocketis

arocketthat
uses two or morestages, each of which contains its
ownenginesandpropellant.

Atandemorserialstage

is one that is mounted on top

of another stage.
Aparallelstage refers to those attached alongside
another stage.

 In

serial or tandem staging schemes, the first stage is at the bottom

and is usually the largest, the second stage and subsequent upper
stages are above it, usually decreasing in size.

In

parallel staging schemes solid or liquid rocket boosters are used to

assist with lift-off. These are sometimes referred to as 'stage 0'.

In

the typical case, the first stage and booster engines fire to propel
the entire rocket upwards. When the boosters run out of fuel, they are
detached from the rest of the rocket (usually with some kind of small
explosive charge) and fall away. The first stage then burns to
completion and falls off. This leaves a smaller rocket, with the second
stage on the bottom, which then fires.

This

is known in rocketry circles as staging, this process is repeated

until the final stage's motor burns to completion.

Separation
Separation

events occur when stages or strap-on

boosters separate after use, when thepayload fairing
separates prior to orbital insertion, or when the
launch escape system--used in many early
human spaceflightmissions--separates after the early
phase of the launch.

In

fact, reducing the number of separation events

results in a reduction incomplexity.

BOOSTER SEPARATION:

In order to send large vehicle into space or orbit, small booster

rockets are attached.

The boosters are the first stage and the upper stages are called as
sustainer stages.

The separation of large boosters uses direct staging.

Each booster is connected to the rockets core through a bar

mechanism in the front joint side and the round head mechanism
in the back joint side.

When the engine of the booster stops working, the connection bolt
and separation nut will be unlocked separately.

The small separation rockets that are bound to the boosters are
ignited and separate the boosters from the core.

The boosters fall down and separation is complete.

Stage separation

Stage separation is heat separation. When the engine of a lower

stage rocket stops working according to the set procedure, upper
stage rocket will start its engine. When the propulsion reaches a
certain point, the control system will issue orders and explode the
bolt that connects the two-stage rockets.

The

two-stage rockets separate under the action of

high-speed fuel gas spurted by the engine of the upper
stage rocket.
1. Fore body separation is achieved by means of unlocking,
turning, and separating. When the fore body is cast, the
explosive bolts that connect with the two halves of the fore
body explode first. The two halves of the fore body rotate
around the front side of the lower stage rocket. When rocket
rises as its accelerates, the fore body is separated from the
rocket and falls down.

Initially, the lower stage takes some time to burn off ( say few
seconds).

Earlier there was a short delay induced before firing of the

consecutive upper stage, until a finite separation distance was
obtained.

During this period the earths gravitation was said to reduce the
velocity of the vehicle.

To overcome this the HOT STAGING method was implemented.

In this method, the upper stage is fired a, with a low but increasing
thrust, a short period before the separation of the lower stage.

Flame resistant ducts are provided at the inter stage gaps so as

the output of the upper stage to pass out safely, without affecting
the vehicles performance.

MECHANISM USED TO ATTACH DIFFERENT STAGES

Pyrotechnic bolts.
They act just like regular bolts, to hold two items together, but
built into them are explosive charges that are electrically initiated
to cut through or otherwise separate a connector.

Pyro Initiated Release Mechanism (PIRM)

In

some rockets, the two stages are held together by

the separation PIRM.
The Sep-PIRM is similar to the PIRMs in that it consists
of a chamber and cap to contain a charge that shears
the nylon bolts that hold it together.
It is different in that it needs to have a hole through it
to allow the first stage parachutes to deploy as well as
to allow the second stage motor to fire.

Conditions for Successful Staging

For

direct staging to work properly, there must be several

conditions that have to be met.

To

start, the two motors in the rocket have to use "Black

Powder" propellant. Why? Because black powder motors
burn linear; from the nozzle end toward the front end. This is
important, particularly for the special booster motor. The
propellant itself becomes a bulkhead; which is needed to
hold the pressure inside the rocket engine. Without internal
pressure, thrust wouldn't be created.

In

a booster stage motor, the propellant that hasn't burned

yet becomes the bulkhead that holds the pressure inside the
motor. As it burns, the bulkhead becomes thinner and
thinner. When the flame nears the top, bulkhead becomes so
thin that it can't hold the pressure, and the bulkhead bursts.
This is what throws the hot gases and the burning chunks of

 In

a composite propellant motor, the actual propellant is soft

and rubbery. It can't hold back any internal pressure. That
means it can't be used as its own bulkhead like the rock-hard
black powder propellant. Composite propellant motors
always need to have a solid bulkhead made from another
material to hold the internal pressure of the motor. This solid
bulkhead prevents composite propellant motors from being
able to be used as "direct" staging booster motors.

Another

problem associated with composite propellant

motors is that they require high pressure to sustain the
burning process. When this happens, the motor snuffs out.
The remaining propellant doesn't burn. It just falls to the
ground as a chunk of rubber.

What

this means is that even if the propellant could act like

a structural bulkhead, as soon as the flame reached the front
end and broke through; it would immediately snuff out.

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