Novel Technique for Spacecraft's Thermal Deformation Test Based on Transient Phenomena

• Published in: TRANSACTIONS OF THE JAPAN SOCIETY FOR AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES, AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN Vol. 12; no. ists29; pp. Pc_29 - Pc_34
• Main Authors: WADA, Atsushi, MINESUGI, Kenji, SHOJI, Kazunori, OMAGARI, Kuniyuki, KAWANO, Taro, ISHIMURA, Kosei, IKEDA, Mizuho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo THE JAPAN SOCIETY FOR AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES 2014; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: ASTRO-H; Correlation; Thermal Deformation Test; Transient Phenomena
• ISSN: 1884-0485
• DOI: 10.2322/tastj.12.Pc_29

To meet severe requirement of recent large and precise space structures, extremely high structural shape stability on orbit is needed. The low thermal deformation is one of the most important characteristics. This paper describes a novel technique for spacecraft's thermal deformation test on the ground. The required measurement accuracy in the test becomes higher and higher depending on the required structural shape stability. In the proposed test technique, the heat load is applied rapidly and locally to shorten test time. Due to the short test time and restricted applied heat load, the environmental changes are suppressed. As a result, good measurement accuracy can be achieved. Furthermore, the transitional thermal deformation is measured continuously so that we identify the cause of thermal deformation through the correlation between temperatures and measured deformations. The effectiveness of proposed technique is shown through the test results of ASTRO-H which is a next X-ray observation satellite.