High performance thermo-mechanical joint for space applications

A combined, numerical and experimental, study of a thermo-mechanical joint for satellite applications is presented. The joint was designed to provide high thermal insulation (160 K/W) for large mass equipment (70 kg) and satisfy, at the same time, NASA standards and mission requirements of a scientific satellite launched on July 2011. In general, mechanical and thermal requirements demand opposite solutions and a trade off between them is needed. The goal of our design is to develop a robust joint capable to meet both: structural and thermal requirements, while maintaining simplicity in manufacturing and assembly. A brief review on classical thermo-mechanical joints is presented to address the challenges that are overcome by this design. Simplified analytical models, detailed finite element simulations and experimental tests are developed to analyze and characterize the response of the proposed joint for both: (i) required levels of mechanical load defined by mission requirements and (ii) in-flight heat transfer requirements. The simulation results are validated by experiments and the joint qualified by a rigorous mechanical and thermal test campaign. The presented design was successfully used to link a Microwave Radiometer to the SAC-D/Aquarius Satellite.