KARPAGAM INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

COIMBATORE: 641 105

DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

Engineer's Day Celebrations

The Engineering Community across India is celebrates Engineers Day on 15 September

every year as a remarkable tribute to the greatest Indian Engineer Bharat Ratna Visvesvaraya. He is
a recipient of the Indian Republic's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was knighted as a
Knight Commander of the British Indian Empire (KCIE) by King George V for his contributions to the
public good. Every year, on his birthday, 15 September is celebrated as Engineer's Day in India in
his memory. He is held in high regard as a pre-eminent engineer of India. He was the chief designer
of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad in Telangana, as well as the chief engineer
responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara dam in Mysore.
On this occasion, The Technical Club of Aeronautical Engineering Department, Karpagam Institute of
Technology organizes the competition,

Design and Fabrication of Parachute

On
15th SEPTEMBER 2015

Motivation:
What is the purpose of a parachute?
Imagine you are jumping out of a plane 10,000
feet in the air. What type of material would you want
your parachute to be made of and what size would you
want it to be?

The design of a parachute is very important, especially in defense and an extreme sport
such as skydiving because someone's life is dependent on the parachute functioning correctly.
Engineers thoroughly test the materials and designs of parachutes to ensure that they open as
intended and reliably, and are strong enough to withstand the air resistance needed to slow
skydivers to safe landing speeds.

Introduction:
A parachute is an umbrella-shaped device of light fabric used especially for making a safe
jump from aircraft. Due to the resistance of air, a drag force acts on a falling body (parachute) to
slow down its motion. Without air resistance, or drag, objects would continue to increase speed
until they hit the ground. The larger the object, the greater its air resistance. Parachutes use a large
canopy to increase air resistance. This gives a slow fall and a soft landing.

Learning Objectives:
Through this competition the students would be able to learn,

The techniques for designing a parachute that falls slowly.

The methods to determine which type of materials works best by testing different options.
The role the role of air resistance in flying.

Registration:
Prior registration is needed for the participation in the event, the registration end by
14.09.2015 (Monday) 2:30 PM, for registration contact,
The Head of the Department,
Department of Aeronautical Engineering

NO SPOT REGISTRATION

Rules:

The students may form into team consisting maximum of 3 Members.

The teams must construct their design at the completion only, prototypes will not be allowed into
construction area how ever teams could use their design diagrams while construction.
The maximum time allowed for the construction will be 60 minutes.
The parachutes are to be designed for the minimum payload of 40 grams to maximum payload of
100 grams. The payload mass fraction will be one of the judging criteria.
The detailed design calculations along with the test trial details have to be submitted in the form of
a report before the event.
The parachutes will be allowed to drop from the height of approximately 40 feet.
There is no restriction on the parachute size.
Three trails per team will be allowed and the best of three will be taken for judging.
All the decisions of the judges will be final.

Judging Criteria:
The judging of the event will be done by considering various design and construction aspects of the
parachute, the split-up of the judging parameter will be as follows,

Venue:

Design and Trial Report

Design Ergonomics
Construction Time
Payload Mass Fraction
Time for Landing
Impact of Landing on Payload
Final Presentation

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10 Points
10 Points
10 Points
20 Points
20 Points
20 Points
10 Points

Library Building, Karpagam Institute of Technology, Coimbatore.