Abstract
On-board appendages with mechanical moving parts for satellites produce undesirable micro-jitters during their on-orbit operation. These micro-jitters may seriously affect the image quality from high-resolution observation satellites. A new application form of a passive vibration isolation system was proposed and investigated using a pseudoelastic SMA mesh washer. This system guarantees vibration isolation performance in a launch environment while effectively isolating the micro-disturbances from the on-orbit operation of jitter source. The main feature of the isolator proposed in this study is the use of a ring-type mesh washer as the main axis to support the micro-jitter source. This feature contrasts with conventional applications of the mesh washers where vibration damping is effective only in the thickness direction of the mesh washer. In this study, the basic characteristics of the SMA mesh washer isolator in each axis were measured in static tests. The effectiveness of the design for the new application form of the SMA mesh washer proposed in this study was demonstrated through both launch environment vibration test at qualification level and micro-jitter measurement test which corresponds to on-orbit condition.
Highlights
The quality of high-resolution images obtained from earth observation satellites can be degraded by undesirable microdisturbances induced by on-board appendages that have mechanical moving parts, such as reaction wheel assembly (RWA) [1], control moment gyro [2], cryogenic cooler [3], and gimbal-type antenna [4]
We investigate the possibility of achieving a novel launch and on-orbit vibration isolation system which guarantees the vibration isolation performance in a launch environment without the requirement of a holding and release mechanism, while effectively isolating the micro-jitter disturbances from the RWAs on-orbit
A novel application form of the ring-type shape memory alloy (SMA) mesh washer isolator that can be used in both launch vibration and on-orbit micro-jitter environments without requiring a launch lock device was evaluated
Summary
The quality of high-resolution images obtained from earth observation satellites can be degraded by undesirable microdisturbances induced by on-board appendages that have mechanical moving parts, such as reaction wheel assembly (RWA) [1], control moment gyro [2], cryogenic cooler [3], and gimbal-type antenna [4]. We investigate the possibility of achieving a novel launch and on-orbit vibration isolation system which guarantees the vibration isolation performance in a launch environment without the requirement of a holding and release mechanism, while effectively isolating the micro-jitter disturbances from the RWAs on-orbit. Kwon et al proposed a novel pseudoelastic gear that utilized the ring-type SMA mesh washer as a spring-blade to bridge the output shaft of the motor with an existing gear wheel [21] This application was researched and developed for attenuating the micro-jitter induced by stepper motor activation of the twoaxis gimbal antenna. The objective of the design is to guarantee the structural safety of both the jitter sources and the isolator itself in severe launch environments without requiring an additional holding and release mechanism and while effectively isolating the RWA-induced micro-jitter. The isolation system guarantees both the structural safety of the RWA during the launch environment and the micro-jitter isolation of RWA during on-orbit conditions
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