Hardware qualification for scientific ballooning missions

The European Stratospheric Balloon Observatory (ESBO) initiative aims at simplifying the access to stratospheric balloon missions. We plan to provide platforms and support with instrument design in order to support scientists. During the design process, the inevitable question of qualification for the harsh flight conditions arises. Unfortunately, there is no existing standard for qualification of stratospheric ballooning hardware. Thus, we developed a qualification procedure for use within ESBO and similar projects.In this paper, we present our analysis of the environmental conditions in the stratosphere. While conditions at typical balloon float altitudes are similar to the space environment, there are also some relevant differences. For example, the thermal environment is dominated by radiation and thermal conduction, but the remaining atmosphere still supports a certain amount of convection. The remaining atmospheric pressure in the stratosphere also leads to reduced arcing distances. Vibrational loads are far less than for space missions, but quasi-static or shock loads may occur. The criticality of radiation increases with mission duration.Based on the environmental conditions, we present the qualification procedures for ESBO, which are based on the European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) standards for space systems. Overtesting against too high requirements leads to overengineering, driving mission cost and mitigating the advantages of balloons over space missions. Therefore, we modified the ECSS standards to fit typical scientific ballooning missions over several days at altitudes up to 40 km. Furthermore, we analyzed design rules for space systems with regard to their relevance for scientific ballooning, including material and component selection. We present the experience from the hardware qualification process for the ESBO prototype STUDIO (Stratospheric UV Demonstrator of an Imaging Observatory). Even though boundary conditions are different for each individual mission, we aimed for a broader approach: We investigated more general requirements for scientific ballooning missions to support future flights.     

航空发动机0Cr18Ni9 不锈钢导管数控弯曲回弹规律

为了有效地解决航空发动机导管弯曲成形时的回弹问题，开展了0Cr18Ni9不锈钢管数控弯曲工艺试验，采用单一变量 法研究了管径、壁厚、相对弯曲半径、弯曲角对回弹的影响规律，并通过数值仿真和正交试验法分析了弯曲速度、弯模间隙等工艺 参数，以及弹性模量、屈服强度、硬化指数对弯曲回弹角的影响。结果表明：回弹角与弯曲角呈显著的线性关系，当弯曲角在180° 以内时，回弹角为1.6°~6.0°；建立了回弹角预测线性方程，预测误差在[-0.425°，0.502°]内的概率为99.74%，并基于此方程开展了全 尺寸导管的回弹角预测和补偿工艺试验；在各工艺参数中弯曲速度和弯模间隙对回弹角的影响较大，可引起大于0.5°的偏差，而 因材料参数变化导致的回弹角变化不超过0.05°。