Projecte llegit
Títol: Adaptation of a drop tower experiment to an orbital platform payload.
Director/a: GONZÁLEZ CINCA, RICARD
Departament: FIS
Títol: Adaptation of a drop tower experiment to an orbital platform payload.
Data inici oferta: 10-07-2017 Data finalització oferta: 10-03-2018
Estudis d'assignació del projecte:
MU AEROSPACE S&T 15
| Tipus: Individual | |
| Lloc de realització: EETAC | |
| Paraules clau: | |
| microgravity ISS Acoustic fields boiling | |
| Descripció del contingut i pla d'activitats: | |
| The work will be divided in two phases. In the first one, the student will manufacture and test some elements of a drop tower experiment, and integrate then in the rack. In the second phase, the requirements of an orbital platform will be analyzed and the previous experiment will be redesigned to adapt to them. | |
| Overview (resum en anglès): | |
| Nowadays long-term space exploration missions are not efficient in terms of cryogenic propellant management and storage. The exposure of the storage tanks to very harsh environment (radiation, high energy particles or extreme temperatures) implies the need of efficient technologies to reduce their effects on the fuel. Maintaining cryogenic temperatures during long periods is not easy in those conditions, therefore the tanks may experience localized boiling due heat leaks in the thermal shields of the tanks. This bubbles are potentially dangerous for spacecraft maneuvers implying engines (Tank chill down, engine restart, propellant loading or others fuel consuming maneuvers).
One of the methods though as a possible solution or mitigation is to detach those boiling bubbles and move them towards a cold zone where they could condensate again. For producing this mechanism acoustic waves has been proposed by the Microgravity Laboratory in Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya. Previous works has been done relating the acoustic fields and boiling processes, but in microgravity they has not been studied enough. So the topic is complex and interesting to justify further investigations. Previous works carried out in the Microgravity Lab showed that acoustic field waves can be efficient in managing bubbles in microgravity. So the following thesis proposes an experiment which is not interested in the analysis of data for proving scientific theories or principles, it has already been studied. But for prove the use of this acoustic waves as a bubble control tool for condensate them. This implies that the experiment will use the acoustic fields for allocate the bubbles in a well known position where they will be forced to condensate. The scientific goals of this experiment will be presented as well as the possible platforms capable of offering an advantageous environment for it. Moreover, the systems needed for the proper data acquisition and validation of the experiment goals will be described and a set of sensors and systems will be proposed. Finally, a plan on the experiment verification and a plan for data exploitation will be briefly commented. |
|