Thermal deformation isolation for satellite platforms via flexible connections

Abstract

Thermal deformation is a serious issue for many space structures when travelling around Earth. This paper presents a method to achieve extremely low thermal deformation in satellite platforms with prototype applications. In addition to using the traditional nearzero coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) material, the platform succeeded in comparison to the traditional energy-consuming methods mainly due to the unique isolation of the residual thermal expansion by flexible connections. First, the design of the composite with near-zero CTE is briefly introduced and used to develop the precision satellite platform. Next, the isolation mechanism to minimize the thermal deformation is presented. Then, the deformation isolation is detailed through the “flexible connecting” method. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by finite element (FE) analyses and further verified with a prototype. The experimental results from the prototype recorded a 90% reduction in comparison to the traditional platforms in the wrapping deformation of the payload panel, which was measured by projection moire methods. The thermal wrapping deformation decreased from 1.013 mm using the rigid connection to 0.104 mm using the flexible connection. This result proves that the proposed method is effective for a high-precision satellite structure and has considerable potential in engineering applications.