Subsonic Analysis of a NACA 0009 Rocket Fin

This work presents the evaluation of the subsonic aerodynamic performance of a NACA 0009 rocket fin. The fin, developed through an iterative design process, was manufactured using a HAAS Mill within the Trinity University Makerspace. It is intended for use on the Trinity University Rocketry Club's (TURC) experimental solid rocket. A subsonic wind tunnel, designed primarily for teaching purposes, was used to test the fin at wind speeds ranging from 8.87 m/s to 24.36 m/s and angles of attack (AoA) of 0° and 90°. A custom mount was fabricated for single-fin wind tunnel testing. The study includes the development of an experimental procedure to measure the lift and drag forces on the fin. Additionally, computational fluid dynamics analysis (via Autodesk CFD) was conducted to assess the fin’s suitability for deployment under subsonic conditions, with drag coefficient results at 0° AoA deviating from experimental data by 39.47% to 2.78% and at 90° AoA by 3.98% to 0.15%, under consistent mesh and solver settings. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of symmetrical double-sided milling techniques for suitable flight characteristics at subsonic conditions.