Environmental Tests of a Parabolic Self-Deployable Tapespring Boom for CubeSat Applications

Abstract

Abstract The need for composite booms in deployable space structures is ever-increasing. This study aims to investigate the effects of environmental conditions on the material properties of a self-deployable carbon fiber boom with a parabolic cross-section. A similar boom will fly as the primary payload on Ut ProSat-1 (UPS-1), a 3U CubeSat designed and manufactured by students at Virginia Tech. The boom will be deployed repeatedly at different locations along the spacecraft’s orbit. In addition, the boom has a flexible circuit near its tip. This circuit houses an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to measure the acceleration experienced by the boom during and at the end of each deployment sequence. A second IMU embedded on the payload control module near the root of the boom measures the vibration response at that location. The transfer function between these two IMUs will give qualitative and quantitative information about the deployment shock perceived by the CubeSat chassis. The on-orbit data will help validate the data obtained from the ground experiments described here. The boom was deployed inside a Tenney environmental chamber to simulate the space environment. The thermal cycling was typical, with hot and cold survival cycles going from 4°C to 70°C, followed by a series of operational cycles with dwell periods at each. A low vacuum of 9 Torr was maintained throughout the test. The effect of temperature on the deployment velocities and shocks has been presented here. The same tests were performed with the TVAC chamber door open, and the differences were noted. These results will provide insight into the characterization of NASA’s tape springs and aid in making informed decisions for future missions.