Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Variable Surface Area Thermal Radiator
Project Description
Due to increased complexity of spacecraft and longer expected life, more sophisticated and complex thermal management schemes are needed that will be capable of dissipating a wide variety of heat loads under harsh operating conditions. An optimal thermal control system must effectively vary the amount of heat dissipation while at the same time not burdening the spacecraft by utilizing the extremely limited spacecraft resources, such as mass, volume, or power. Several previous thermal control systems have successfully utilized movable louver and pinwheel type designs for enabling thermal control. Each type of louver system has the drawback of utilizing moving parts that can break or bind, and only enable course thermal control. A much better approach would be to have a conformal, flexible type louver system. The CAC system implements a variable thermal control system that consists of a thin membrane (< 1mm) that is comprised of a plurality of small electrostaticly operated "louvers" that can be adjusted to varying degrees of inclination for variable heat rejection. The flexible electrostatic variable emissivity louver membrane is not only extremely lightweight, but also has the added benefit of being completely conformal to a spacecraft surface.
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Anticipated Benefits
Several potential commercialization schemes may be possible for non-NASA applications. One potential commercial application is in the area of creating an adaptive, conformal array antenna. By adjusting individual louvers, a potentially steer-able or even phase adjustable antenna could be realized. By placing the thin flexible membrane (without radiator) within the panes of a double pane high efficiency window, a variable emissivity reflector could be realized. If the insulating membrane is transparent, and the metal coating is thin enough, the flexible louver system can be made virtually transparent to visible light. By closing the electrostatic louver flaps during summer months, the incident solar radiation could be blocked from entering a dwelling. Likewise, during winter months, the electrostatic louvers could be opened to allow the lower winter sunlight into the dwelling. Connecticut Analytical has a long record (20+ years) of converting research into viable commercial products.
Given more stringent requirements being placed upon new satellite and human inhabited spacecraft, thermal control systems are a major consideration and must be designed in such a way so as not to place a heavy burden upon available spacecraft resources. Due to the unique flexible metalized insulating material conceived of for this NASA research, the manufacturing requirements will be greatly simplified compared to that of manufacturing traditional MEMs based devices. Because of the simplicity of the design, it is not beyond the scope of CAC's capability to manufacture hundreds of such flexible louver systems per month. The flexible conformal louver system consists of a simple metalized thin insulating sheet, with either stamped or laser cut flaps. CAC currently has produced far more complex oxygen monitors for GE Medical used in MRI's and has manufactured over 12,000 units used worldwide over a 15 year timeframe. More »
Given more stringent requirements being placed upon new satellite and human inhabited spacecraft, thermal control systems are a major consideration and must be designed in such a way so as not to place a heavy burden upon available spacecraft resources. Due to the unique flexible metalized insulating material conceived of for this NASA research, the manufacturing requirements will be greatly simplified compared to that of manufacturing traditional MEMs based devices. Because of the simplicity of the design, it is not beyond the scope of CAC's capability to manufacture hundreds of such flexible louver systems per month. The flexible conformal louver system consists of a simple metalized thin insulating sheet, with either stamped or laser cut flaps. CAC currently has produced far more complex oxygen monitors for GE Medical used in MRI's and has manufactured over 12,000 units used worldwide over a 15 year timeframe. More »
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut Analytical Corporation | Lead Organization | Industry | Bethany, Connecticut |
Johnson Space Center
(JSC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Houston, Texas |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Connecticut
-
Texas
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This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.