Design and Manufacture of an Oxidizer Tank with a Surface Tension PMD

Abstract

A new oxidizer tank assembly is required for a new commercial satellite. Due to its high L over D ratio, a state-of-the-art tank shell, with its cylinder section reinforced with composite overwrap, was designed to meet the tank requirements. This tank was designed to accommodate low fill fraction horizontal ground handling with unlimited upright-to-horizontal cycles, and to provide gas-free expulsion of oxidizer propellant in low or zero-g environment. A lightweight, high performance, and highly reliable Propellant Management Device (PMD) was developed to meet this requirement. To minimize risk, the heritage approach was utilized to design and manufacture the tank shell and the PMD. The tank shell construction is entirely based on existing, qualifed shell designs with flight heritage. Likewise, the PMD design utilized all PMD elements previously designed and qualifed for similar missions. Stress and fracture mechanics analyses were conducted to design the tank shell. Finite element modeling technique was utilized to assist detail designs. A structural analysis was conducted to validate the PMD, and a PMD performance analysis was conducted to design and validate the PMD. A complete qualification test program is required to qualify this tank. The qualification testing program is not yet complete at the time of publication.