Spacecraft reflectors thermomechanical analysis

Modulated-temperature Thermomechanical Analysis

By employing a “modulated-temperature” heating programme composed of a series of heat-isotherm stages, it is possible to separate the change in dimensions of an oriented material during heating into two contributions: a thermally “reversing” component which is due to linear thermal expansion and a “nonreversing” part arising from relaxation to the disordered state on heating above Tg . Some pre...

Thermomechanical Analysis of a

Thermomechanical analysis of the space shuttle tile thermal protection system (TPS) subjected to damage is conducted using the finite element method. The thermal and structural response of the damaged configurations are compared with the undamaged configuration to determine the relative effects of damage on the thermal protection capability and the induced thermal stresses in the TPS. The TPS i...

Integration of thermomechanical strains into tolerancing analysis

A piezo-thermal probe for thermomechanical analysis.

Thermomechanical analysis (TMA) is widely used to characterize materials and determine transition temperatures and thermal expansion coefficients. Atomic-force microscopy (AFM) microcantilevers have been used for TMA. We have developed a micromachined probe that includes two embedded sensors: one for measuring the mechanical movement of the probe (deflection) and another for providing localized...

Efficient Jitter Analysis for Spacecraft