Abstract
Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF) is a proposed method of actuating multiple spacecraft in relative degrees of freedom using electromagnetic forces and reaction wheels. The electromagnetic dipole is created by running current through high temperature superconducting wire. One of the challenges of EMFF is maintaining the cold temperatures necessary for superconducting. The current thermal design uses cryogenic coolers and multilayer insulation. This paper investigates models of the thermal design developed in Matlab and Sinda. The temperature distribution is simulated first using a simplistic 1-D model and then a 3-D model for the coil. The discrete solution procedure involves differencing Laplace’s equations and includes the effects of a material with anisotropic thermal conductivity and multiple layers of insulating material. These results are then compared to experimental data, which are conducted using a copper test article in a vacuum chamber. Work done on the Matlab model to match the experimental environment includes modeling the free-molecular flow and accounting for the variation of parameters as a function of temperature. The Matlab model, Sinda and experimental results correlate well ensuring that the EMFF thermal design will operate successful on a satellite.
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References
Kong, E. M. C., Kwon, D. W., Schweighart, S. A., Elias, L. M., Sedwick, R. J., Miller, D. W., “Electromagnetic Formation Flight for Multisatellite Arrays,” AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 659–666, July–August 2004.
Elias, Laila M., Kwon, Daniel W., Sedwick, Raymond J., and Miller, David W., “Electromagnetic Formation Flight Dynamics including Reaction Wheel Gyroscopic Stiffening Effects,” AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 499–511, Mar–Apr. 2007.
Kwon, Daniel W., and Miller, David W., “Electromagnetic Formation Flight of Satellite Arrays,” S.M. Thesis, MIT SSL #02–05, January 2005.
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Kwon, D.W. (2008). Electromagnetic Formation Flight System Design. In: Sandau, R., Röser, HP., Valenzuela, A. (eds) Small Satellites for Earth Observation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6943-7_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6943-7_20
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-6942-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-6943-7
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