Membrane-based space energy collector: A conceptual study

In this work the shape characteristics of a parabolic structure that consists of an initially flat circular membrane subject to solar radiation pressure in the space environment are examined. This problem arises in the analysis of space systems such as solar power collectors and solar sails. This paper presents parametric studies aimed at determining the power concentration capacity of a non-ideally reflecting flat circular membrane as a function of its radius size and thickness. The shape of the deformed membrane is close to parabolic. Both numerical simulations and analytical study show that the thin membrane subject solely to solar radiation pressure can concentrate the sunlight power several hundred times.     

充气太阳能帆板展开动力学数值模拟预报

充气太阳能帆板是一种通过气体驱动支撑管展开的新型太阳能帆板。首先简要介绍其研究进展，然后针对充气展开支撑管，提出了分段式充气体积控制模型，基于LS—DYNA模拟了空间环境下Z型折叠充气太阳能帆板在支撑管无约束与有轴向约束控制时的展开过程，分析了支撑管每折叠段的气压变化，上横板的动力学特性以及基板的平面外振动，预报了展开过程中支撑管与基板的接触碰撞，并通过悬吊式展开试验验证了计算结果。结果表明，本文计算能够预报充气太阳能帆板在空间展开的动力学特性。     

极端温度下含隙铰柔性帆板展开位置精度分析

以自主研发的月球车重复可展帆板为研究对象，分析月表极端温度对其展开末端位置可靠性的影响。构建极端温度与帆板材料、铰链结构间的关系函数，基于运动弹性动力学，建立极端温度下可展帆板间隙-柔性耦合动力学模型。以帆板展开末端位置误差为评价指标，将BP神经网络算法与一次二阶矩法相结合，利用应 力- 强度理论建立帆板展开末端位置可靠性模型，通过算例分析对比不同极端温度下的可靠性指标。用经典MC法计算进行对比验证，确定神经网络方法的可行性、高效性。结果表明，极端温度条件下，铰间隙对于位置可靠性的影响显著，温度区间在-30 ℃~20 ℃时，机构展开末端位置可靠性最优。     

Photonic spin control for solar wind electric sail

The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a novel, efficient propellantless propulsion concept which utilises the natural solar wind for spacecraft propulsion with the help of long centrifugally stretched charged tethers. The E-sail requires auxiliary propulsion applied to the tips of the main tethers for creating the initial angular momentum and possibly for modifying the spinrate later during flight to counteract the orbital Coriolis effect and possibly for mission specific reasons. We introduce the possibility of implementing the required auxiliary propulsion by small photonic blades (small radiation pressure solar sails). The blades would be stretched centrifugally. We look into two concepts, one with and one without auxiliary tethers. The use of small photonic sails has the benefit of providing sufficient spin modification capability for any E-sail mission while keeping the technology fully propellantless. We conclude that small photonic sails appear to be a feasible and attractive solution to E-sail spinrate control.     

NanoSail-D: A solar sail demonstration mission

In the early to mid-2000s, NASA made substantial progress in the development of solar sail propulsion systems. Solar sail propulsion uses the solar radiation pressure exerted by the momentum transfer of reflected photons to generate a net force on a spacecraft. To date, solar sail propulsion systems were designed for large robotic spacecraft. Recently, however, NASA has been investigating the application of solar sails for small satellite propulsion. The NanoSail-D is a subscale solar sail system designed for possible small spacecraft applications. The NanoSail-D mission flew on board the ill-fated Falcon Rocket launched August 2, 2008, and due to the failure of that rocket, never achieved orbit. The NanoSail-D flight spare is ready for flight and a suitable launch arrangement is being actively pursued. This paper will present an introduction solar sail propulsion systems and an overview of the NanoSail-D spacecraft.     

空间电源性能测试仿真系统设计与实现

提出一种基于空间电源控制器的半实物动态环境测试仿真系统,主要由电源控制器、太阳电池模拟阵、蓄电池模拟器、程控电子负载和仿真计算机组成。以电源控制器为被测对象,搭建的仿真系统可实时模拟航天器在空间动态环境下太阳电池阵的输出特性,包括不同轨道、太阳光照角等状态条件下的输出,对航天器上的电源性能进行测试,通过仿真结果验证空间电源系统设计的正确性。     

European Sail Tower SPS concept

Based on a DLR-study in 1998/99 on behalf of ESA/ESTEC called “System Concepts, Architectures and Technologies for Space Exploration and Utilization (SE&U)” a new design for an Earth-orbiting Solar Power Satellite (SPS) has been developed. The design is called “European Sail Tower SPS” and consists mainly of deployable sail-like structures derived from the ongoing DLR/ESA solar sail technology development activity. Such a SPS satellite features an extremely light-weight and large tower-like orbital system and could supply Europe with significant amounts of electrical power generated by photovoltaic cells and subsequently transmitted to Earth via microwaves. In order to build up the sail tower, 60 units - each consisting of a pair of square-shaped sails - are moved from LEO to GEO with electric propulsion and successively assembled in GEO robotically on a central strut. Each single sail has dimensions of 150m × 150 m and is automatically deployed, using four diagonal light-weight carbon fiber (CFRP) booms which are initially rolled up on a central hub. The electric thrusters for the transport to GEO could also be used for orbit and attitude control of the assembled tower which has a total length of about 15 km and would be mainly gravity gradient stabilized. Employing thin film solar cell technology, each sail is used as a solar array and produces an electric power in orbit of about 3.7 MW_e. A microwave antenna with a diameter of 1 km transmits the power to a 10 km rectenna on the ground. The total mass of this 450 MW SPS is about 2100 tons. First estimates indicate that the costs for one kWh delivered in this way could compete with present day energy costs, if launch costs would decrease by two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, mass production and large numbers of installed SPS systems must be assumed in order to lower significantly the production costs and to reduce the influence of the expensive technology development. The paper presents the technical concept and an economic assessment as well as results of a recent solar sail deployment ground demonstration at DLR's facilities in Cologne.     

Applying international space station (ISS) and solar-sail technology to the exploration and diversion of small,dark near earth objects (NEO's)

Space-Station technology, micron-thick 100-m solar sails, and a near-Earth propulsion system allow exploration of small, dark Near-Earth-Objects (NEO's) of cometary origin. Early crewed missions to NEO's could analyze the objects' properties and evaluate resource-mining possibilities. Later missions to Earth-threatening 100-m radius NEO's could deploy NEO-centered, high-area, low-mass reflective structures. The solar gravitational parameter (GM_sun) on a NEO is slightly reduced by increased radiation pressure. The central-force-field equations reveal that NEO eccentricity and average solar distance are thereby slightly increased. Given decades of warning and long-lived reflective canopies, such structures can convert Earth-impacts into near-misses. Although not suitable for NEO mining, such structures are superior to nuclear detonations because (as revealed by the 1994 Jupiter-comet interaction) NEO calving may be a consequence of explosions. NEO despinning is not required.     

Station keeping of a solar sail around a Halo orbit

Solar sails are a concept of spacecraft propulsion that takes advantage of solar radiation pressure to propel a spacecraft. Although the thrust provided by a solar sail is small it is constant and unlimited. This offers the chance to deal with novel mission concept. In this work we want to discuss the controllability of a spacecraft around a Halo orbit by means of a solar sail. We will describe the natural dynamics for a solar sail around a Halo orbit. By natural dynamics we mean the behaviour of the trajectory of a solar sail when no control on the sail orientation is applied. We will then discuss how a sequence of changes on the sail orientation will affects the sail's trajectory, and we will use this information to derive efficient station keeping strategies. Finally we will check the robustness of these strategies including different sources of errors in our simulations.     

Electrostatically inflated gossamer space structure voltage requirements due to orbital perturbations

This paper explores the concept of using electrostatic forces for deployment of gossamer space structures. The Electrostatically Inflated Membrane Structure (EIMS) uses two conducting membranes that are interconnected through membrane ribs. An absolute electrostatic charge is applied to the structure through active charge emission. This causes repulsion between layers of lightweight membranes that inflates the EIMS system and tensions the membranes. Assuming positive tensions, the EIMS system is modeled as a rigid system. Typical orbital perturbations are considered such as solar radiation pressure, differential gravity, and atmospheric drag which may compress the structure leading to shape destabilization. Restricting the analysis in this paper to flat membranes, the minimum potentials required to exactly compensate for the worst case scenario of differential solar radiation pressure at geostationary altitudes are estimated to be on the order of hundreds of volts. In low Earth orbit, voltage magnitudes of several kilovolts are required to reach an inflation pressure to offset the normal compressive drag pressure.     

空间太阳电池阵的发展现状及趋势

从四方面分析了空间太阳电池阵的发展现状,包括体装式、带桨展开式、单板展开式、多板展开式、柔性多模块多维展开式等总体构型的发展历程,常用太阳电池片如硅电池片、砷化镓电池片、柔性薄膜电池片的材料与性能的发展现状,刚性基板结构、半刚性基板结构、柔性基板结构的发展与应用及五种展开机构的特点与空间应用分析,论述了空间太阳电池阵发展的制约因素,指出了聚光型柔性太阳电池阵是未来空间太阳电池阵发展的趋势,旨在促进空间太阳电池阵向着大尺寸、大功率、模块化、低成本和轻质量的方向发展,以适应大功率航天器的发展需求。     

Initial performance assessment of hybrid inflatable structures

Inflatable technology for space applications is under continual development and advances in high strength fibers and rigidizable materials have pushed the limitations of these structures. This has lead to their application in deploying large-aperture antennas, reflectors and solar sails. However, many significant advantages can be achieved by combining inflatable structures with structural stiffeners such as tape springs. These advantages include control of the deployment path of the structure while it is inflating (a past weakness of inflatable structure designs), an increased stiffness of the structure once deployed and a reduction in the required inflation volume. Such structures have been previously constructed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory focusing on large scale booms. However, due to the high efficiency of these designs they are also appealing to small satellite systems.This article outlines ongoing research work performed at the University of Southampton into the field of small satellite hybrid inflatable structures. Inflatable booms have been constructed and combined with tape spring reinforcements to create simple hybrid structures. These structures have been subjected to bending tests and compared directly to an equivalent inflatable tube without tape spring reinforcement. This enables the stiffness benefits to be determined with respect to the added mass of the tape springs. The paper presents these results, which leads to an initial performance assessment of these structures.     

考虑重力影响的太阳翼模型修正方法研究

太阳翼结构地面模态试验时重力导致的几何非线性不能忽略,因此提出了一种考虑重力影响的柔性结构动力学模型修正方法。首先推导了地面环境下结构的切线刚度矩阵,求解广义特征值,得到重力影响下的模态,对试验和计算得到的模态振型进行匹配,并进行参数的灵敏度分析,选取合适的修正参数并迭代求解参数的修正量。以展开锁定情况下的太阳翼组合结构为研究对象,对比研究发现重力对模态频率有影响,采用分步修正策略,依次对单翼板弹性参数和翼板间连接刚度进行修正,研究结果表明本文方法不仅收敛速度较快,且具有较高的精度。     

太阳帆推进

太阳帆依靠反射太阳光光子产生推力,在飞行任务的整个过程推力连续作用于飞行器上而不需要任何推进剂。太阳帆可广泛应用于低成本大速度增量的太阳系飞行任务,具有其它推进系统无法替代的优点。简要介绍了太阳帆推进的机理及研究现状,给出了太阳帆飞行器的主要性能参数及需要解决的主要技术关键。     

太阳电池阵铰链机构刚度等效方法

组成铰链机构的各铰链均为可活动的部件,给太阳电池阵的建模和分析带来很大难度。文章采取试验测定铰链机构刚度并直接代入太阳电池阵有限元模型的方法,通过与试验对比,确定等效的铰链机构刚度值,可大大提高太阳电池阵的建模和分析的精度     

UltraFlex太阳翼有序展开动力学建模与分析

针对刚柔耦合的圆形薄膜UltraFlex太阳翼结构动力学建模与分析困难、微重力下薄膜运动复杂和展开精度要求高的问题，搭建了UltraFlex展开动力学数值分析模型，分析了扭簧和绳索驱动下UltraFlex的有序展开动力学特性。基于绝对坐标方法建立包含柔性附件和柔性薄膜的UltraFlex动力学模型，采用两步检测算法处理薄膜间的复杂接触碰撞问题，利用扭簧逐步释放扭矩的方法驱动结构有序展开，通过控制绳索释放速率的方法完成移动箱板的转动规划和限位跟踪，提高展开位置精度。将该展开驱动策略运用到NASA实际样机尺寸的UltraFlex分析模型中，仿真结果表明该展开策略能够使得UltraFlex结构高精度、有序、稳定地展开；绳索始终处于张紧状态，最大拉力为62.5N；薄膜展开过程复杂，重复出现张紧、回弹的现象，最终趋于稳定。     

收拢压紧柔性太阳翼电池片应力影响因素研究

在压紧机构压紧力以及发射阶段加速度工况载荷共同作用下，收拢压紧状态的柔性折叠式太阳翼的太阳电池板上电池片的应力应满足力学强度要求。文章采用有限元方法对电池片应力主要影响因素，包括聚酰亚胺泡沫布局和厚度、聚酰亚胺泡沫力学性能、盖板结构及埋件形状等进行计算分析；总结降低收拢压紧状态下柔性太阳翼压紧点附近电池片压应力的主要来源途径，为柔性折叠式太阳翼的工程研制提供设计分析思路。     

形状记忆聚合物及其复合材料在航天领域的应用进展

首先介绍了形状记忆聚合物及其复合材料，概述了该类材料的形状记忆机理。然后重点评述了基于形状记忆聚合物复合材料的可展开铰链、可展开桁架、可展开太阳能电池阵列、锁紧释放机构的结构和性能特点，指出了各类应用的优缺点及适用条件。最后，总结并展望了基于该类材料的空间可展开结构的未来研究重点和发展趋势。     

空间实验室大面积太阳电池阵技术研究

介绍了空间实验室大面积太阳电池阵的方案构型，并进行了模态分析、热结构耦合分析和动力学仿真分析。生产出了全尺寸的集成演示样机，进行了展开试验、主展开机构的模态试验，以及半刚性太阳电池板和二自由度驱动机构的振动试验。计算和试验结果表明，技术方案是可行的。     

空间太阳能发电站拓扑架构及能量管理控制策略

针对超大功率空间太阳能电站(SSPS),提出了一种分布式+集中式系统拓扑架构,将系统电力传输分为太阳电池阵区、主结构电力传输区及发射天线阵区三大部分。根据系统三大阵区的能量流动关系,本文将SSPS系统的工作模式划分为最大功率点跟踪(MPPT)工作模式、跟踪功率指令工作模式及阴影区工作模式,并提出分层能源管理控制策略。最后,针对兆瓦级太阳电池阵的不同工作模式,利用Matlab/Simulink搭建空间太阳能电站系统仿真模型,进行仿真试验及对比分析,试验结果验证了拓扑架构的合理性及控制策略的有效性,为解决空间太阳能发电技术电力传输与能量管理问题提出了新思路。