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Projecte llegit

Títol: Adaptation of an Experiment for Propellant Management from Suborbital to Orbital Platforms

Estudiants que han llegit aquest projecte:

Director/a: GONZÁLEZ CINCA, RICARD

Departament: FIS

Títol: Adaptation of an Experiment for Propellant Management from Suborbital to Orbital Platforms

Data inici oferta: 15-02-2023     Data finalització oferta: 15-10-2023


Estudis d'assignació del projecte:
    GR ENG SIST AEROESP
Tipus: Individual
 
Lloc de realització: EETAC
 
Segon director/a (UPC): ABECIA HERNANZ, SARA CECILIA
 
Paraules clau:
Microgravity; Propellant management; Spectral Mass Gauging; Acoustic Boil-Off Control; International Space Station; Space Rider; Payload adaptation; Liquid filling subsystem; Data management subsystem; Multi-criteria decision analysis
 
Descripció del contingut i pla d'activitats:
Design of an experiment for the ISS.
 
Overview (resum en anglès):
This thesis investigates the adaptation of the Integrated Acoustic Technology
(IAT) experiment, originally developed for the Blue Origin New Shepard
suborbital platform, towards long-duration low-gravity platforms. The work
focuses on the engineering challenges associated with transferring the
experiment to the International Space Station (ISS) and assessing its
portability to Space Rider. Particular attention is given to the operational
differences between short-duration suborbital flights and orbital platforms,
where longer mission durations enable experimental procedures to be
reconfigured based on intermediate results.

The adaptation is developed following a systems engineering approach. The existing IAT architecture is first analysed to identify the functions that the heritage experiment did not have to perform and that a long-duration mission requires. Functional requirements and
engineering constraints are then established for the selected subsystems,
considering mechanical, electrical, thermal, data, safety and operational
interfaces. Two subsystems are subsequently redesigned in greater detail: the
fluid filling and containment subsystem and the data management and
experiment-control subsystem.

For the fluid-management subsystem, alternative pumping architectures are
evaluated according to liquid transfer performance, fill-volume accuracy,
operational autonomy and repeatability, and integration and platform
adaptability. A multi-criteria decision analysis is used to select the
preferred architecture for the proposed payload. A similar approach is
applied to the data management and experiment-control subsystem, considering
the requirements associated with autonomous operation, data handling,
reliability and modularity.

The resulting architectures provide the basis for a modular payload capable
of supporting controlled fluid filling, data acquisition and experiment
reconfiguration during extended low-gravity campaigns. The work remains at a
conceptual and architectural level; detailed component selection, complete
resource budgets and experimental validation are identified as subsequent
engineering activities. Nevertheless, the proposed adaptation establishes a
structured path for evolving the original suborbital experiment towards
long-duration orbital operation and for increasing the technological maturity
of Spectral Mass Gauging and Acoustic Boil-Off Control techniques.

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