Improvement of an electrical heater system for spacecraft thermal control, volume 1
Abstract
For the active temperature control of a mechanical structure with nonhomogeneous and variable heat loads induced by the environment, a control system was defined, which makes use only of heaters as actuators. The control systems under consideration should be able to fulfill high accuracy requirements both for absolute temperature and for the temperature gradient. A mathematical model for the thermal system was defined and a fixed command and a variable command gradient control system were investigated, using different control units. A comparison and trade-off of different controller types was made using results of digital and analog computer simulations. For the proposed control unit, a switching type (PWM) controller, a more detailed analysis is given, as well as a detailed electrical and mechanical design for a breadboard model and for a modular gradient control unit. A general technical specification is given.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- January 1978
- Bibcode:
- 1978STIN...7824512M
- Keywords:
-
- Heating Equipment;
- Satellite Temperature;
- Temperature Control;
- Control Equipment;
- Cost Estimates;
- Design Analysis;
- Discrete Functions;
- Equipment Specifications;
- Mathematical Models;
- Spaceborne Telescopes;
- Temperature Gradients;
- Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer