Research on Orbit Assembly Strategy of Large-scale Space Truss Structure

Background: With the rapid development of spatial technology and mankind's continuous exploration of the space domain, expandable space trusses play an important role in the construction of space station piggyback platforms. Therefore, the study of the in-orbit assembly strategy for space trusses has become increasingly important in recent years. The spatial truss assembly strategy proposed in this paper is fast and effective, and it is applied for the construction of future large-scale space facilities effectively. Objective: The four-prismatic truss periodic module is taken as the research object, and the assembly process of the truss and the assembly behaviors of the spatial cellular robot serving for on-orbit assembly are expressed. Methods: The article uses a reinforcement learning algorithm to study the coupling of truss assembly sequence and robot action sequence, then uses a q-learning algorithm to plan the strategy of the truss cycle module. Results: The robot is trained through the greedy strategy and avoids the failure problem caused by assembly uncertainty. The simulation experiment proves that the Q-learning algorithm of reinforcement learning used for planning the on-orbit assembly sequence of the truss periodic module structures is feasible, and the optimal assembly sequence with the least number of assembly steps obtained by this strategy. Conclusion: In order to address the on-orbit assembly issues of large spatial truss structures in the space environment, we trained the robots through greedy strategy to prevent failure due to the uncertainty conditions both in the strategy analysis and in the simulation study.Finally, the Q-learning algorithm in reinforcement learning is used to plan the on-orbit assembly sequence in the truss cycle module, which can obtain the optimal assembly sequence in the minimum number of assembly steps.

Simulating Heat Transfer Through Periodic Structures With Different Wall Temperatures: A Temperature Decomposition Method

To simulate heat transfer processes through periodic devices with nonuniform wall temperature distributions, we propose to decompose the regular temperature into two parts: namely the transient part and the equilibrium part. These two parts can be solved independently under their individual wall and inlet/outlet conditions. By calculating the flow field and the two component functions in one periodic module, one can easily generate the distributions of regular temperature in one or multiple modules. The algorithm and implementation are described in details, and the method is discussed thoroughly from mathematical, physical, and numerical aspects. Sample simulations are also presented to demonstrate the capacity and usefulness of this method for future simulations of thermal periodic flows using various numerical schemes.

Prediction of Flow Field in a MCFC Stack With Channels of Complex Shape

The flow passage in a molten-carbonate-fuel-cell (MCFC) stack consists of the cathode/anode channels of complex geometry and the inlet/outlet manifolds that supply and collect the gas to and from the channels. It is one of the major design concerns that the reacting fluid be uniformly distributed to each cell and to various regions of the electrode surface in the channel. The paper outlines the method to predict the flow characteristics in the flow passage of a multiple cell MCFC system. Rather than trying to obtain the finite volume solution over the entire channel directly, the channel with uniformly distributed trapezoidal shape supports is approximated by the equivalent porous medium. The effective permeability and the inertial resistance factor are estimated from a rigorous 3D finite volume calculation for a single periodic module of the channel. The pressure in the manifold is determined iteratively from the empirical head-loss relation in a tube. The volume change of the fluid due to chemical reaction is taken into consideration in the analysis. It is shown in the paper that the flow field in both cathode and anode channels is successfully computed and the mass flux to each cell can also be predicted. The pressure drop versus the flow rate for different stack-manifold arrangements is also discussed in the paper.

Multi-Mode Heat Transfer in a Randomly Packed Bed of Cylindrical Rods Using a Finite Volume Scheme

In this paper, calculations of mixed-mode heat transfer in beds of randomly-packed cylinders are presented. An unstructured finite volume method is employed. Random packing is addressed by meshing a periodic module, and creating the bed by stacking and random lateral translation of modules. The ability of the finite volume scheme to employ arbitrary polyhedra is exploited in addressing the resulting non-conformal interfaces. Conduction and radiation are considered, but convection is ignored. Results are presented for conducting and semi-transparent cylinders for a range of fluid and solid conductivities and solid refractive indices and establish the viability and versatility of the method.

Computed Effects of Rotor-Induced Swirl on Brush Seal Performance—Part 2: Bristle Force Analysis

This paper analytically investigates the aerodynamic bristle force distributions in brush seals used in aircraft gas turbine engines. These forces are responsible for the onset of bristle tip lift-off from the rotor surface which significantly affects brush seal performance. In order to provide an enhanced understanding of the mechanisms governing the bristle force distributions, a full Navier-Stokes flow simulation is performed in a streamwise periodic module of bristles corresponding to the staggered square configuration. As is the case with a companion paper (Sharatchandra and Rhode, 1996), this study has the novel feature of considering the combined effects of axial (leakage) and tangential (swirl) flows. Specifically, the effects of intra-bristle spacing and bristle inclination angle are explored. The results indicate that the lifting bristle force increases with reduced intra-bristle spacing and increased inclination angle. It was also observed that increases in the axial or tangential flow rates increased the force component in the normal as well as the flow direction.

Some properties of periodic modules

In this paper periodic modules over group rings and algebras are considered. A new lower bound for the p-part of the rank of a periodic module with abeian vertex is given, and results on periodic modules with odd/even and small periods are obtained. In particular, it is shown that characters afforded by periodic lattices of odd period satisfy strong properties and that irreducible periodic lattices are always of even period.