7

I am a civil engineer and would like to do a study on the design and construction of launching platforms for large lift vehicles, one example of which is the ELA 3 (Ariane Launch Area 3) in French Guyana, a near equatorial location particularly useful for launching heavy payloads to geostationary orbit.

Obviously a lot of geotechnical engineering goes into the design of a launch platform to ensure that it is robust against both the rocket exhaust and vibrations during normal launches and any potential anomaly (explosions or "fast fires").

I would like to know if there is a structural launchpad design available on the internet, drawings, dimensions, and possibly even some calculations. Based on this, and using information already widely available on rockets, I would do some modeling and study both the thermal and dynamic behaviors that the reinforced concrete is subjected to. So I need the structural design of the platform or information with the structure dimensions.

uhoh
  • 148,791
  • 53
  • 476
  • 1,473
Ana Waldila
  • 79
  • 3
  • This is an interesting question! In Stack Exchange it is usually helpful to ask well defined and focused questions about a specific issue, rather than a broad topic. If the question is too broad, the answers can grow large and sometimes go in unhelpful directions. Instead, it's better to start fairly narrow and then if you don't get everything answered at first, leave a comment, or in some cases ask an additional, new question. Take a look at the edits I've made here and see if this is still what you are trying to find out. You can edit further if there are more details you'd like to ask about – uhoh Jan 10 '18 at 05:30
  • 1
    It may be easier to focus on one of NASA's launch pads. NASA publishes a lot of their research on https://ntrs.nasa.gov/ while I haven't found such a central repository for ESA, i.e. I expect a lot more information is available online for NASA launch pads. – Hobbes Jan 10 '18 at 08:43
  • 4
    I disagree with the close votes. A full answer may be too long, but can't we at least give some pointers? – Hobbes Jan 10 '18 at 10:22
  • You might also want to look at what the Russian have done for the new launch facility in eastern Russia, Vostochny – Fred Jan 10 '18 at 11:59
  • 1
    uhoh, In fact my focus of study is not with regard to foundations, but with regard to the same structure! I would like to know if there is a structural launchpad design available on the internet. Based on it and with information from the Ariane 5 rocket, I would do a modeling and study the thermal and dynamic behaviors that the reinforced concrete is subjected to. So I need the structural design of the platform or information with the structure dimensions. – Ana Waldila Jan 10 '18 at 12:19
  • OK I've edited your question again based on your comments. Have another look to see if it's now accurate. In the future, it's best to go ahead and make the edits, and then just leave a comment mentioning you've edited. – uhoh Jan 10 '18 at 13:33
  • Thank you for your help, uhoh! Does anyone have a solution regarding my question? – Ana Waldila Jan 10 '18 at 19:13
  • Related: https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/37364/were-launchpads-at-ksc-built-with-pilings-or-footings – Ludo Sep 02 '19 at 14:10

2 Answers2

2

I am not a civil engineer, but found some interesting papers that may get you started. This paper, co-authored by a Chilean scientist and a NASA employee at John F. Kennedy Space Center, is on noise and vibration produced a launch. An extremely interesting paper - by the sound of its abstract - on researchgate.net says this:

According to the status of series of new-type and larger radius rockets which are assembled in the basic module of rockets having the diameters of 5 m, 3.35 m and 2.25 m, we need to design new rocket launching pads to the new demands. By modeling the new rocket launching pad, we did the static model dynamic analysis of the structural and find the critical section according to parameters of it.

I've requested full access, but haven't heard back yet.

Jan van Oort
  • 945
  • 9
  • 15
2

In russian for example

Belkov V.N., Lanshakov V.L. Missile Systems: Aspects of Computer Aided Design: Tutorial

Бельков В.Н., Ланшаков В.Л. Ракетные комплексы: аспекты автоматизированного проектирования: Учеб. пособие

https://studfiles.net/preview/2687823/page:28/

GAS-DYNAMIC PROCESSES IN THE GAS STROKE OF THE STARTING COMPLEX OF SMALL DEPTH FOR LIGHT-CLASS SPACE ROCKETS

ГАЗОДИНАМИЧЕСКИЕ ПРОЦЕССЫ В ГАЗОХОДЕ СТАРТОВОГО КОМПЛЕКСА МАЛОГО ЗАГЛУБЛЕНИЯ ДЛЯ РАКЕТКОСМИЧЕСКОГО НАЗНАЧЕНИЯ ЛЕГКОГО КЛАССА

https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/gazodinamicheskie-protsessy-v-gazohode-startovogo-kompleksa-malogo-zaglubleniya-dlya-raket-kosmicheskogo-naznacheniya-legkogo-klassa

Community
  • 1
A. Rumlin
  • 7,873
  • 26
  • 29