Impact Analysis of Thermo-mechanical Deformation to the Unlocking Performance of Locking Device for Manipulator on Chinese Space Station

Abstract

As one kind of large-scale on-orbit deployable motion mechanism, the launch state of the manipulator on the Chinese Space Station is fixed on the external surface of the Tian-He module by 41 locking-releasing devices. It covers an area of 3.5 meters in arc length and 4.6 meters in length. The locking-releasing device should not only be able to withstand the environmental load conditions of the launch stage and in-orbit stage but also can release the manipulator reliably after going through the thermal and dynamic changes. Three factors cause the deformation of the locking-releasing device before unlocking the manipulator. The first deformation is caused by the module from the atmospheric conditions to the vacuum conditions. The second deformation is thermal deformation which is caused by the temperature changes in the module and manipulator. The locking-releasing devices bear the overload force during the launch stage will cause the third deformation. The numerical simulating analysis shows that the deformation is not beyond the allowable range. The manipulator was unlocked successfully after it was launched together with the Tian-He module. It is verified that the deformation caused by the change of thermo-mechanical conditions from the launch stage to the orbit stage does not affect the unlocking performance of the locking-releasing device.