EHÉCATL 2018

PARACHUTE
Version 1.0

GEOMETRY PARACHUTE

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SYSTEM INTEGRATION AND COMPONENTS
OF A PARACHUTE RECOVERY SYSTEM

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SCHEMATIC AND NOMENCLATURE OF A
TYPICAL EJECTION SEA PARACHUTE ASSEMBLY

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 TYPES OF PARACHUTES
Parasol: This first case was used by Chinese artists in the
performances to simulate a slow fall, obviously it was a very small-scale
action of what would come in the following years.

Conic: We can say that this is the first parachute that existed. Cone-
shaped was created in the year 1470 in Italy with the foundations of the
great Leonardo Da Vinci. The purpose for which said parachute was
made was so that in case of fire in a building people could jump out of it
with their help.

Pyramidal: this parachute has the shape of a pyramid formed by

woods in its edges and base, which connected between them by fabrics
created a closed environment that allowed to stop the fall. This case is
also based on Leonardo Da Vinci's projects.

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 TYPES OF PARACHUTES
Round: In this case can be divided into two types, manageable or not
manageable. The latter are used to launch merchandise in missions,
such as NGOs in countries in conflict, since they only follow the air
currents until they reach the ground when they can not be controlled.
These types of parachutes are almost not found, at least the
manageable since its origin was in the nineteenth century, but used in
World War II and composed of silk or nylon. The diameter in the case of
being used by a human being was around 7 meters.

Squares: These are currently used in sports since its shape helps better
control of the direction in the air while getting more speed and planning more.
These parachutes are composed of two large parallel panels placed horizontally
and joined by smaller ones vertically, creating squares through which the air
circulates. The back of this formation is closed to achieve better planning and
even on certain occasions when enough speed is reached it can be promoted.

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 TYPES OF PARACHUTES

Ring shape: We refer to those used to brake

planes or cars that go at high speeds. Normally
another parachute would not support and would
end up breaking, since in this case it takes a hole
in the center to reduce the pressure.

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 Cross Parachute. In recent years, the cross
parachute has been used for aircraft and
ordnance deceleration as a low-cost
replacement for the ringslot parachute.
 This stable parachute increases its drag
coefficient with a decreasing rate of descent, a
fact previously observed only on unstable
parachutes. Drag and stability of the cross
parachute depend on the arm's diameter-to-
width ratio (W/L), on the number and length of
suspension lines, and on cloth porosity. To
conform to general use, the nominal diameter,
Do, is used in this manual instead of the arm
length to define cross parachute diameter.

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 Ribbon Parachutes. Ribbon parachute performance
depends to a large extent on selection of the right
porosity. Design data, including the required porosity
for a particular parachute size and application.
 Ringslot Parachutes. Ringslot parachutes used as
landing deceleration parachutes for aircraft
experience a drag coefficient reduction from 0.65 to
0.60 because of the large wake behind the aircraft.
 Rlngsail Parachutes. These parachutes were used
as the main descent parachutes for the Mercury,
Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft and for the ejectable
crew module of the F-ill aircraft.
 Hemisflo Parachute. This supersonic ribbon
parachute should be used at speeds of Mach 2 or
higher. This parachute was developed as a high-
stability, low drag parachute for the stabilization of
bombs, mines, and torpedoes. It combines good
stability with excellent damping characteristics.
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 Disk-Gap-Band Parachute. Some information on
this parachute, used successfully to land the Viking
spacecraft on the planet Mars.
 Rolating Parachutes. Several types of rotating
parachutes have been used successfully. Angled
vents in the parachute canopy rotate the parachute.
Centrifugal forces acting on the canopy and
suspension lines increase the projected diameter,
resulting in a high drag coefficient. Attempts to use
rotating parachutes with diameters greater than 10
feet have been unsuccessful because of deployment
and canopy wrap-up problems.
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 PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES
Constructed Shape. The Plan and Profile columns define the
constructed diameter and the cross section of the parachute
canopy.
Dc, the constructed diameter of the canopy, can be obtained
from the drawing of the specific parachute.

Nominal Diameter. Do, the nominal diameter of the parachute,

can be calculated from the total canopy surface area, So,
including the area of the vent and all other openings:

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 PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES

Inflated Shape. Dp, the projected diameter of the inflated parachute canopy, is best
calculated from the projected or inflated canopy area, Sp, as measured in wind-tunnel
tests.

The projected diameter of a parachute varies with parachute type, canopy porosity,
suspension-line length, velocity, and canopy design.

A large projected diameter, DP, will generally result in a large drag coefficient, CDo.

The ratio of projected diameter to nominal diameter, Dp/Do, is an indication of the drag
effectiveness of the parachute design; the larger the projected diameter in relation to the
nominal diameter, the larger the drag coefficient.

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 PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES
Drag Coefficient. CDo is the drag coefficient related to the total canopy surface area, So.
The drag coefficient indicates how effectively a parachute canopy produces drag with a
minimum of cloth area, thereby minimizing weight and volume.

Opening-Force Coefficient. Cx, the opening-force coefficient, indicates the difference

between the instantaneous opening force and the steady drag force at constant speed.
This condition, called the infinite mass case, is obtained in wind-tunnel tests and in
parachute applications with high canopy loadings, W/(CdS)p, as exemplified by aircraft
deceleration parachutes and first-stage drogue chutes.

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 PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES
Average Angle of Oscillation. The angle of oscillation is measured in wind-tunnel tests
or during free-flight tests. Oscillation on most solid textile parachutes varies with size and
descent velocity. Large parachutes oscillate less than small parachutes. Unstable
parachutes tend to descend in an oscillating mode at rates of descent in excess of 25 ft/s,
glide at descent rates below 15 ft/s, and mix glide and oscillation during medium rates of
descent.
General Application. The general application column in Tables 5-1 through 5-5 indicates
the primary use of the particular parachute type.
Sw, in Table 5-4 is the wetted upper canopy surface area on gliding parachutes.
Sw/So in Table 5-4 is the ratio of the upper surface area to total cloth area, including all
ribs and stabilizer panels.

Referenced reports for most of the listed parachutes will be found in subsequent sections
of Chapter 5, but primarily in section 5.2, Parachute Drag and Wake Effects.
Figures 5-1 through 5-15 show some of the more common parachute-type decelerators
listed in Tables 5-1 through 5-5.

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PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES

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PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES

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PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES

SUBSYSTEM RECOVERY-EHÉCATL 2018-2019 PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION (Antares Aerospace)

PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES

SUBSYSTEM RECOVERY-EHÉCATL 2018-2019 PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION (Antares Aerospace)

PARACHUTE DECELERATOR TYPES

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PARACHUTE DRAG AND WAKE EFFECTS

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 Parachute drag is an important performance
parameter. because it determines the rate of
descent, generally a primary performance
consideration in the design of a parachute
system.
 To maintain a required constant rate of
descent, the drag of the parachute must equal
the weight of the total system.
 The parachute drag, D, is :
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 CDo is the parachute drag coefficient related to
the canopy surface area, dimensionless
 So is the canopy surface area, including the
vent area and all openings and slots in the
canopy,_ft2
 q is the dynamic pressure. equal to 1/2 pv2,
lb/ft2.
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 For a given rate of descent, the dynamic  1. Conical, multiconical, or quarter-spherical
pressure, q, is a fixed value. The product, canopy shapes
CDoSO, *is called the drag area of the  2. Rectangular or triangular canopy shapes
parachute and is measured in square feet. A
large drag coefficient, CDo ,will result in a  3. Long suspension lines
small canopy surface area, So, and a low  4. Low canopy porosity
parachute weight and volume. Because these  5. Annular canopy shapes
characteristics are highly desirable for large-
diameter, final descent parachutes, a large  6. Rotating parachutes
drag coefficient is frequently the deciding factor  7. Gliding parachutes
in the selection of a parachute. The following
design features and parachute canopy
characteristics are known to produce high drag
coefficients:

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 The glide velocity of a gliding parachute changes
little with glide angle. However, the vertical
component of the glide velocity (the rate of
descent) decreases notably with an increasing
glide ratio.
 Rectangular and triangular parachutes up to
personnel-parachute size have been used
successfully at lower speeds. Deployment of
large rectangular and triangular parachutes has
caused problems. The noncircular canopy design
makes it difficult to maintain tension on all canopy
elements during deployment and inflation.
 Long suspension lines increase the inflated
diameter of the canopy and result in a larger drag
coefficient, which, for a given rate of descent,
produces a smaller diameter and a lighter
parachute assembly.
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 Rotating parachutes have been used successfully
with diameters up to 10 feet. Attempts to use
larger rotating parachutes have resulted in poor
deployment and canopy wrap-up before full
inflation. Inaccuracies in the angle of pitch of
individual gores cause variations in parachute
rotation and drag coefficient.
 Decreasing the porosity increases the drag
coefficient but also produces a less stable
parachute and a higher opening force.
 Canopy profiles of quarter-spherical shapes and
the similar triconical shapes have shown the
highest drag coefficients for circular canopy
designs.
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 Dp. The drag coefficient, CDp, related to the  The slopes of the curves for area and projected
inflated (projected) area, Sp, decreases slightly diameter growth indicate that using
with an increase in line length and a related suspension-line ratios larger than 1.1 may
increase in projected diameter. have provided additional drag.
 However, the drag coefficient clearly increases  These data were obtained in model tests with
with an increase in suspension-line ratio, L1/D0 1-meter (3.3-foot)-diameter parachutes.

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 Figure shows the possible increase in drag
coefficient for line ratios, L/Do, up to 2.0.
Parachutes with no skirt restrictions, such as
flat and conical circular parachutes, increase
the drag coefficient up to line ratios of 2.0.
Parachutes with skirt restrictions, such as
extended skirts and hemispherical canopies,
show little drag coefficient increase at line
ratios above 1.1.
 Calculations indicate that line-length ratios
above 1.5 may be detrimental because of the
associated weight increase of the longer lines.
Systems that employ parachutes in clusters or
use first-stage drogue chutes require long
risers. Parts of these risers may be replaced by
longer suspension lines on the individual
parachutes to increase parachute drag and
decrease the required parachute diameter and
parachute assembly weight.

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 Effect of Reynolds Number on
Parachutes

 The parachutes, unlike airfoils, operate

in turbulent flow because of the
separation of the airflow at the leading
edge of the parachute canopy. For this
reason, the Reynolds number does not
appear to change the drag coefficient
of parachutes.

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