Author:
Pankaj Agarwal ,Vinu Viswanath ,Mathew Sebastian ,Harshit Shah
Abstract
India has launched an astronomical space based observatory ASTROSAT in the year 2015 for unravelling the some of the secrets of our universe. Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) was one among the payloads onboard for studying the sources of Soft X-rays in deep space. A composite structure was required for this purpose. It had to support the payload elements and maintain their relative locations precisely during launch as well as during its operation, in-orbit. The interface with the spacecraft was at the middle of the SXT structure with one part is inside and remaining part is outside of the spacecraft deck. The structural design was carried out to meet all the structural design requirements such as stability, stiffness and strength with minimum mass under the constraints of spacecraft interface and envelope. This paper presents the details of the structural design, development and qualification of a CFRP tubular SXT structure, which has been functioning satisfactorily in-orbit.
Reference28 articles.
1. Singh, K.P., Stewart, G.C., and Westergaard, N.J.et al."Soft X-ray Focusing Telescope Aboard AstroSat: Design, Characteristics and Performance", J. Astrophys Astron38, 29, 2017.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12036-017-9448-7
2. Tompkins, S. S., "Effects of Thermal Cycling on Composite Materials for Space Structures", NASA Technical Report, 1989.
3. Sang Yoon Park., Heung Soap Choi.,Won Jong Choi and Hyuk Kwon., "Effect of Vacuum Thermal Cyclic Exposures on Unidirectional Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites for Low Earth Orbit Space Applications", Composites Part B: Engineering, ISSN.13598368, Vol.43, Issue.2, pp.726-738.doi: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2011.03.007
4. Robitaille, S., Patz, G. and Johnson. S., "Advanced Composite Stable Structures, Appropriate Materials for High Precision Detectors", Proceedings of the International Workshop on Advanced Materials for High Precision Detectors, 28-3 September 1994, Archampes, France, CERN Report.
5. Mustafa E., "Tolerancing of a Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Metering Tube Structure of a HighResolution Space Borne", Proceedings of SPIE 9912, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation II, 99124V, 22 July 2016.doi: 10.1117/12.2231406