Design an attachment bracket for ULA’s current Atlas V Centaur launch vehicle.

About this Challenge

Sometimes it really is rocket science. ULA is challenging the GrabCAD community with a competition where participants design a launch support attachment bracket for ULA’s current Atlas V rocket. The design will subsequently be evaluated for application on ULA’s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket, which will transform the future of space launch. ULA has successfully delivered more than 100 missions to orbit, and your design could contribute to missions that provide critical capabilities to save lives, explore the universe and connect the world.

Technical Specifications

The internal boattail support bracket will be used during ground processing at the base of the Atlas V payload fairing (see illustration below). It will be used at numerous locations around the vehicle upper stage, acting as a support point for work platforms on the days leading up to launch. The bracket remains with the upper stage of the rocket during flight. Launch vehicle weight has a first order effect on the performance of the system, so minimizing weight, such as in this bracket, dramatically improves payload weight to orbit.

All portions of the bracket must remain within the envelope shown in the Part Design Envelope drawing (see Download Specification button). The part will be fastened to the vehicle interface at datum A using 4 bolts shown as holes (marked Hole Pattern D) in the envelope drawing. A load from the work platform will be applied uniformly on a surface located at datum B and will be fastened using 2 bolts shown as holes (marked Hole Pattern E) in the envelope drawing. The minimum edge distance surrounding all bolt holes shall be 2 times the diameter of the bolt hole.

Maximum part weight: 0.1 lb

Minimum wall thickness: 0.040 inches

Ultimate load (due to work platform): 600 lbf applied uniformly in the negative Z direction (illustrated on the envelope drawing)

Required material: Ultem 9085 (material properties below)

Material Properties

Ultem 9085

Material Strength Allowable: 4500 PSI

Specific Gravity: 1.34

Young’s Modulus: 325 KSI

Poisson’s Ratio: 0.41

Non-Dissolvable support material

Your entry must include:

Description of the bracket

STEP/IGES formatted files

Renderings

Mass, Volume

Load calculations

ULA Compliance Certification form (you will see this form once you click on "Submit an Entry" button)

The ULA Rocket Hardware Challenge marks the first time GrabCAD has hosted the opportunity for community members to design a piece of rocket hardware with ULA, and as a result, award eligibility is different for the ULA Challenge than other GrabCAD challenges. U.S. federal laws and regulations restrict eligibility to receive awards in this challenge. For more information about U.S. export control law, visit the below sites:

International Traffic in Arms Regulations , Office of Foreign Assets Control. The ULA 3-2-1 Liftoff Challenge is open to U.S. and non-U.S. applicants. When you sign up for this challenge, you’ll be asked to fill out a ULA Compliance Certification form to verify award eligibility for all team members. ULA will use this form to screen participants to ensure legal compliance and compliance with U.S. sanctions, embargoes, and prohibitions, and to make sure that the awards will be presented in accordance with these laws and regulations.

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