OSP Fairing Model
Part of the OSP fairing project is to develop acoustical damping systems for launch vehicles. To verify analyses, a simple full-scale mockup of the fairing was required. This series shows the manufacture of that model.
The manufacturing process used is a variation of the one-off expendable foam approach. It's an inexpensive way to quickly build large or small parts. The methods used here can easily be applied to other projects.
Enough pictures are shown to make the process easy to follow. Because of the large number of photographs, the individual articles are relatively short in order to keep download times reasonable.
Article Listing
03/10/99 -
Intro
Start of a series on the manufacture of a full-scale fairing model.
03/17/99 -
Tool Design
Once the fairing requirements are defined, it's time to turn them into
an actual design.
04/07/99 -
Tool Materials
The first step in making the tool is to cut the major components: the
bulkheads and the foam.
04/21/99 -
Tool Assembly
The bulkheads and foam are cut, so it's time to start assembling
the tool.
04/28/99 -
Tool Bracing
The tool itself is too flexible, so internal bracing is installed to
reduce sagging.
05/11/99 -
Hot Wire
It's time to move the tool onto the winder and shape the foam...
06/09/99 -
Tool Finishing
After some additional support, a bit of Bondo, and a few buckets of
joint compound, the tool is ready for layup.
06/30/99 -
First Half Layup
Finally, we lay up the first half of the fairing.
07/21/99 -
Patching
The first half wasn't quite as nice as we hoped, so a bit of rework
was required.
08/11/99 -
Fairing Model: Second Half
It's time to layup the second half. The only trick is preparing for
the bond joint.
08/25/99 -
Fairing Model: Final Assembly
At last, the structure is done, and all we have to do is assemble the
fairing.