A torus-shaped solar sail accelerated via thermal desorption of coating |
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| Authors: | Roman Ya Kezerashvili Olga L Starinova Alexander S Chekashov Dylan J Slocki |
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| Institution: | 1. New York City College of Technology, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA;2. The Graduate School and University Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA;3. Samara National Research University, Russian Federation, Samara, Russia;4. State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14228, USA |
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| Abstract: | A torus-shaped sail consists of a reflective membrane attached to an inflatable torus-shaped rim. The sail’s deployment from its stowed configuration is initiated by introducing inflation pressure into the toroidal rim with an attached circular flat membrane coated by heat-sensitive materials that undergo thermal desorption (TD) from a solid to a gas phase. Our study of the deployment and acceleration of the sail is split into three steps: at a particular heliocentric distance a torus-shaped sail is deployed by a gas inflated into the toroidal rim and the membrane is kept flat by the pressure of the gas; under heating by solar radiation, the membrane coat undergoes TD and the sail is accelerated via TD of coating and solar radiation pressure (SRP); when TD ends, the sail utilizes thrust only from SRP. We study the stability of the torus-shaped sail and deflection and vibration of the flat membrane due to the acceleration by TD and SRP. |
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| Keywords: | Solar sail Thermal desorption Inflatable spacecraft vehicle Torus |
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