Hancock County, MS
Stennis Space Center Test Stand Upgrade
Scope/Solutions
Relativity Space wanted to upgrade the existing A-2 Test Stand to accommodate the larger Terran R Stage 1 rocket, a medium- to heavy-lift vehicle with increased engine thrust. SGH evaluated the original test stand’s steel loading platform, concrete bent, concrete tower, and pile-supported mat foundation, and designed upgrades for the test stand to receive the new vehicle.
SGH designed and is developing construction documents for retrofitting the steel plate box loading platform, the concrete tower and bent, and the diverter support structure for increased loads associated with the new vehicle. We recently completed the 90% design documents. Highlights of our work include:
- Developing a material testing program to extract and test samples of concrete, reinforcing steel, and plate steel to determine the appropriate material strengths to consider in the analysis and design
- Performing a corrosion and coating investigation on the existing steel platform
- Developing the design basis document outlining the analysis, loading, and design approaches
- Developing a three-dimensional finite element model of the steel loading platform, including shell and beam elements representing the top and bottom flange plates, vertical diaphragms, and stiffeners, along with rigid support elements at any steel-to-concrete structure interface
- Analyzing linear and nonlinear behavior
- Identifying overstressed steel components and performing calculations to validate strengthening options for the existing structure
- Using detailed mathematical models of the existing tower, bent, and foundation structure to evaluate the increased demands and identify the components requiring strengthening
- Developing retrofit concepts to upgrade the structure to resist the increased thrust load and meet the performance objectives defined in the design basis document
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Project Summary
Ongoing
Completion Date
Solutions
Repair & Rehabilitation
Services
Structures | Advanced Analysis | Applied Science & Research
Markets
Science & Defense
Client(s)
Relativity Space
Specialized Capabilities
Repair & Strengthening | Computational Mechanics | Materials Science
Key team members
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