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Temperature increase on folded solar sail membranes

Seefeldt, Patric and Dachwald, Bernd (2021) Temperature increase on folded solar sail membranes. Advances in Space Research, 67 (9), pp. 2688-2695. Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.asr.2020.09.026. ISSN 0273-1177.

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Official URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117720306736

Abstract

All currently considered solar sail designs require the deployment of a thin reflective membrane. This membrane is stowed using some folding technique and sometimes coiled onto a spool. The temperature of the deployed sail membrane is a critical aspect for solar sail design. Depending on the geometry of the imprinted folding lines, sunlight may be reflected inside folding lines which would locally increase the temperature of the membrane. The analysis presented here aims for a quantification of that temperature increase. Microscope images of a thick polyimide membrane reveal the geometry of folding lines for different tensioning states. In addition, the opening of folding lines are analysed with a finite-element beam model. After the determination of the geometry as a function of the tensioning state, it is analysed how many reflections may appear in a folding line depending on its opening angle for a sail that is oriented perpendicular to the Sun. Two cases are investigated, deep space and low-Earth orbit. It is shown that, even for small tensioning states, the membrane geometry does not allow more than only two reflections. Depending on the material, this can cause a slight temperature increase that also depends on the investigated case (deep space or low-Earth orbit).

Item URL in elib:https://elib.dlr.de/144647/
Document Type:Article
Title:Temperature increase on folded solar sail membranes
Authors:
AuthorsInstitution or Email of AuthorsAuthor's ORCID iDORCID Put Code
Seefeldt, PatricUNSPECIFIEDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2067-9458UNSPECIFIED
Dachwald, BerndFH Aachenhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8765-8339UNSPECIFIED
Date:May 2021
Journal or Publication Title:Advances in Space Research
Refereed publication:Yes
Open Access:Yes
Gold Open Access:No
In SCOPUS:Yes
In ISI Web of Science:Yes
Volume:67
DOI:10.1016/j.asr.2020.09.026
Page Range:pp. 2688-2695
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0273-1177
Status:Published
Keywords:Solar sail Hot spots Membrane folding Folding line
HGF - Research field:Aeronautics, Space and Transport
HGF - Program:Space
HGF - Program Themes:Space System Technology
DLR - Research area:Raumfahrt
DLR - Program:R SY - Space System Technology
DLR - Research theme (Project):R - GoSolAr (Gossamer Solar Array), R - Ultralight Photovoltaic Arrays
Location: Bremen
Institutes and Institutions:Institute of Space Systems > Mechanic and Thermal Systems
Deposited By: Seefeldt, Patric
Deposited On:19 Oct 2021 12:13
Last Modified:24 May 2022 23:47

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