New Thermal Design Strategy to Achieve an 80-kg-Class Lightweight X-Band Active SAR Small Satellite S-STEP

The main objective of the S-STEP (the Small Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Technology Experimental Project (S-STEP)) mission is developing an 80-kg-class active X-band SAR observation small satellite. For lighter, smaller, better, and cheaper development of the S-STEP system, a new thermal design strategy is essential. Therefore, we proposed a new thermal design strategy in this study. The main features of the proposed thermal design involve the minimization of heater power consumption by optimizing environmental heat fluxes on the satellite, the provision of long-term SAR imaging duration in both right- and left-looking modes, and the use of a lightweight flexible graphite sheet as a thermal interface for some high-power instruments. These features contribute to minimizing the satellite’s mass budget through heater power minimization and achieving on-orbit system performance of S-STEP. The effectiveness of the proposed thermal design was numerically verified by on-orbit thermal analysis of the S-STEP system. In addition, the thermal design on a key payload component and the multifunctional transmit/receive module structure were verified through a space-simulated thermal vacuum test.

Design of metal casting mold for ADC 12 aluminium alloy with assistance of 20 kHz ultrasonic vibration

Metal mold casting is widely used in industry because of higher accuracy than sand casting and lower cost than diecasting. Metal mold casting can yield products with complex shapes and adjustable cooling rate. In this work, designing and fabrication of 20 kHz ultrasonic assisted mold casting using 20Cr steel are studied. Some major components such as motor, heater power, melting chamber are selected and calculated. Model for heating and pouring the ADC 12 alloy is designed. Samples with and without ultrasonic vibration are investigated using 3D laser scan.

MODELING AND OPTIMIZATION OF HEAT TRANSFER IN CRYOGENIC GASIFIERS: CASE OF AN SGU-7KM-U GASIFICATION UNIT

This paper presents experimental data on oxygen gasification as performed on an SGU-7KM-U unit; data is used to find a differential parametric model of heat transfer in closed-loop gasification units. Reference experi-ments helped find the external parameters such as the heater power, the heat capacity of the evaporator, and the pumping rate. The internal parameters of the model, i.e., the numerical multipliers for coefficients of heat transfer in oxygen, coolant, and the environment, were identified by the passive strategy method. The paper further presents newly developed methods for optimizing the gasifier performance to reach the required range of output temperatures in steady-state and non-steady-state operation. The methods were tested on an SGU-7KM-U gasification unit.

Simulation and Experiment for Growth of High-Quality and Large-Size AlN Seed Crystals by Spontaneous Nucleation

Seed crystals are the prerequisite for the growth of high quality and large size aluminum nitride (AlN) single crystal boules. The physical vapor transport (PVT) method is adopted to grow AlN seed crystal. However, this method is not available in nature. Herein, the temperature field distribution in the PVT furnace was simulated using the numerical analysis method to obtain free-standing and large-size seeds. The theoretical studies indicate that the temperature distribution in the crucible is related to the crucible height. According to the theory of growth dynamics and growth surface dynamics, the optimal thermal distribution was achieved through the design of a specific crucible structure, which is determined by the ratio of top-heater power to main-heater power. Moreover, in our experiment, a sole AlN single crystal seed with a length of 12 mm was obtained on the tungsten (W) substrate. The low axial temperature gradient between material source and substrate can decrease the nucleation rate and growth rate, and the high radial temperature gradient of the substrate can promote the expansion of crystal size. Additionally, the crystallinity of the crystals grown under different thermal field conditions are analyzed and compared. The Raman results manifest the superiority of the thermal inversion method in the growth of high quality AlN single crystal.

GAS SENSITIVE SEMICONDUCTOR NANOMATERIALS FOR CREATION OF HYDROGEN SENSORS

Co-precipitaion method and sol-gel technique were used to prepare semiconductor microcrystalline and nanosized SnO2/Sb2O5 and Со/SnO2/Sb2O5 (0.15 wt.% Sb) materials aimed to create high sensitive hydrogen sensors. Morphology and phase composition of the obtained samples were studied by SEM, TEM and XRD methods. It was found that microcrystalline SnO2/Sb2O5 material with particle size of 1–30 μm was obtained by a co-precipitation method and nanosized SnO2/Sb2O5 material with particle size of 5–25 μm (an average size – 12 nm) was obtained by a zol-gel method. Only cassiterite phase was detected for both microcrystalline and nanosized materials. Sensitivity measurements of the sensors were carried out with using of air-hydrogen mixtures in the concentration range of 40 – 1145 ppm Н2, and dynamic characteristics (response time and relax time) were evaluated for 40 ppm Н2 at different heater power consumptions – 0.25 and 0.35 W. To increase sensitivities of the sensors, cobalt oxide, a known catalyst for hydrogen oxidation, was added to the resulting SnO2/Sb2O5 materials. It was shown that the sensors obtained by a zol-gel method demonstrate more significant sensitivity to hydrogen concentration in comparison with the sensors obtained by a co-precipitation method. It is probably associated with a higher surface area of the nanomaterial that agrees with its smaller particles as compared with the particles of the microcrystalline material. The Co-containing sensors based on the nanosized SnO2/Sb2O5 material are established to reveal higher sensitivity to Н2 than microcrystalline Co/SnO2/Sb2O5 sensors. The Co-containing sensors based on the nanosized SnO2/Sb2O5 material were found to have better dynamic characteristics than microcrystalline Co/SnO2/Sb2O5 sensors. The sensitivities increase and the response and recovery time decrease were found for both sensor materials at increasing of the sensors heater power consumption. The obtained results can be explained with different degree of energy surface heterogeneity of the used materials. The sensor response time is determined by the time of dynamic equilibrium establishment of the hydrogen oxidation reaction on the sensor surface and the recovery time is determined by the time of desorption of the H2 oxidation reaction products (H2O) from the sensor surface. Because of the processes, the sensor with a gas sensitive layer based on the nanosized material possessing with more homogeneous structure of its surface (according to the obtained TEM data) demonstrates improved gas sensitive properties in comparison with the sensor based on the microcrystalline material. The obtained results concerning the sensitivities to H2 and the dynamic parameters of the created sensors point to possibility of effective usage of the sensors based on the nanomaterial to detect H2 in air in the practice.

FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCE OF LASER POWER AND LAYUP SPEED FOR AUTOMATIC FIBRE PLACEMENT TEMPERATURE CONTROL

Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) is a relatively new technology that has revolutionized the production of composite structures in the aerospace and space industries for more than two decades and is nowadays increasingly used in new industries such as the wind energy. Generally, the AFP machine consists of an automatic manipulator (robot) on which a layup head is fixed for laying multiple individual composite strips at once (certainly not excluding the possibility of laying a single wider tape when it comes to Automatic Tape Placement). The layup process is performed on a mandrel or tool with a certain geometric shape. The laying head should at least include a feeder, a cutting mechanism, a compaction mechanism (usually roller) and a certain type of heater (depending on the material type). Conventionally, three types of composite materials are used in combination with AFP technology: continuous fibers reinforced with thermoset resin (usually epoxy resin), same continuous fibers reinforced with thermoplastic resin as well as bonded continuous carbon fibers. Depending on the type of material this technology uses various types of heat sources in order to achieve a good adhesion to the individual fibers that are deposited in the laying process and the pre-laid composite layers. Thermoplastic pre-impregnated material requires high temperature to reach degree of melting of the resin used to achieve complete 'welding' with the previous layers. The melting temperature varies for different materials and ranges from 130°C to 200°C for low melting thermoplastics (such as Polyamide PA and Polypropylene PP), 280°C to 350°C for Polypropylene Sulfide (PPS) up to 400°C - 450oC for Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK). For more than two decades, hot gas torches have been used for thermoplastic layup - not a very expensive system but very difficult to control. One of the newer sources of heat close to infrared radiation (λ = 0.9-1.1 μm) is diode laser heating. This research presents a simple thermal model of the process which correlates the heater power and the layup speed with the temperature of the heating area. The deposition temperature was measured over a range of heater powers and layup speeds. The experimental data is used to define and validate a thermal model for thermoplastic material used in conjunction with a diode laser: carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastics PEEK. This enables open-loop, speed dependent heater power control, based on defining and programming the speed dependent heater power function in the machine controls. Obtained functional dependency was implemented in the AFP machine control system and tested for production of several plates with different layup angles. The achieved temperature during layup process is monitored on the thermal camera and through several pyrometers.

DETERMINATION OF RATIONAL METHOD OF HEATING OF MIXED MINERAL AND VEGETABLE FUELS FOR AUTOMOTIVE DIESEL ENGINES

Research objective is to provide the set temperature condition of mixed mineral and vegetable fuel (MMVF). The use of fuel systems with smart heating will increase the volume of mineral diesel fuel, replaced by renewable re-sources. The technique and results of research of heating with external and internal supply of heat and also with hashing of the heated environment are given. Researches were conducted on specially developed laboratory in-stallation. MMVF on the basis of flax, soy and rape oils were investigated. Concentration of a vegetable component made 40% on volume. The 1000 W external heater and also the 1000, 500 and 300 W external heaters of all types were used. It is established that when heating MMVF the external source of warmth provides good heating on all volume without use of extra for mixing, overheating is 50% of necessary size. When leading warmth without hash-ing of MMVF warming up came from an internal source (the 1000 W heater) unevenly, the unevenness was 60%. When using mechanical mixing of MMVF with heating from an internal source of warmth the unevenness of warm-ing up was 3.1…4.65% depending on heater power. By results of a research it was established that when using the heater with a power of 300 W when heating 1 liter of mixed mineral and vegetable fuel on the basis of rape oil with the maintenance of a vegetable component of 40% on volume time of heating to 60±2 °C was 230 s, the unevenness of heating was 3.1%, overheating was 3.1%. Recommendations about the most rational modes of heating of MMVF in a power supply system of the diesel are made.