Abstract
The structural safety of solar cells mounted on deployable solar panels in the launch vibration environment is a significant aspect of a successful CubeSat mission. This paper presents a novel highly damped deployable solar panel module that is effective in ensuring structural protection of solar cells under the launch environment by rapidly suppressing the vibrations transmitting through the solar panel by constrained layer damping achieved using printed circuit board (PCB)-based multilayered thin stiffeners with double-sided viscoelastic tapes. A high-damping solar panel demonstration model with a three-pogo pin-based burn wire release mechanism was fabricated and tested for application in the 6U CubeSat “STEP Cube Lab-II” developed by Chosun University, South Korea. The reliable release function and radiation hardness assurance of the mechanism in an in-orbit environment were confirmed by performing solar panel deployment tests and radiation tests, respectively. The design effectiveness and structural safety of the proposed solar panel module were validated by launch vibration and in-orbit environment tests at the qualification level.
Highlights
In recent years, the onboard power demand of CubeSat has steadily increased as the capability of the platform for advanced missions has significantly improved owing to advances in technology miniaturization [1,2,3]
To meet the onboard power demand, deployable solar panels have commonly been adopted in CubeSats that encompass the extension of surface areas for solar cell installation and allow orientation or articulation of the panel in the sun’s direction using a combination of solar array drive assembly (SADA)
The excessive dynamic deflection and acceleration of a deployable solar panel under a lunch vibration environment causes stress on mounted solar cells and produces an undesirable burden on the holding and release mechanism (HRM), which may eventually lead to detachment or fracture of those cells
Summary
The onboard power demand of CubeSat has steadily increased as the capability of the platform for advanced missions has significantly improved owing to advances in technology miniaturization [1,2,3]. The excessive dynamic deflection and acceleration of a deployable solar panel under a lunch vibration environment causes stress on mounted solar cells and produces an undesirable burden on the holding and release mechanism (HRM), which may eventually lead to detachment or fracture of those cells This problem becomes more severe when a larger solar panel is adopted to meet the onboard power demand of advanced missions. A novel high-damping deployable solar panel module with a threepogo pin-based burn wire cutting HRM was fabricated and experimentally tested for application in STEP Cube Lab-II 6U CubeSat. The key advantages of the solar panel module proposed are that the panel’s dynamic stresses and deflections in vibration loads can be effectively attenuated or minimized owing to the high damping characteristics accomplished by shear deformation of acrylic material of adhesive tapes with multilayered thin stiffeners.
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