Development and testing of advanced cryogenic thermal switch concepts

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Spaceborne And Space Research Instruments, Apparatus, And Components, Cryogenics, Refrigerators, Low-Temperature Detectors, And Other Low-Temperature Equipment

Scientific paper

This paper describes the development and testing of two advanced cryogenic thermal switch (CTSW) options for use in long-life cryogenic space systems. The principal application for these two CTSW options in such systems is in implementing cryocooler redundancy with a minimum parasitic heating penalty. The two CTSW configurations covered in the paper are a hydrogen gas-gap (H2-GG) design, flown on STS-95 in October 1998 as part of the CRYOTSU Hitchhiker flight experiment, and a differential thermal expansion (DTE) design. Both options are constructed primarily of beryllium for CTE compatibility with beryllium cryogenic components. The H2-GG design utilizes a flat 2-mil gap between two cylindrical beryllium halves that are supported by a thin-walled titanium tube. A highly convoluted stainless steel bellows seals the unit. The H2-GG CTSW is nominally ``off'' (evacuated) until actuated ``on'' by heating a metal hydride getter, which evolves hydrogen and provides thermal conductance across the gap. The H2-GG design has demonstrated an ``on'' conductance of 1.0 W/K, an ``off'' resistance of 1000-1500 K/W and a range of operation from 15K-300K. The DTE design, which has just three parts, is very similar to the H2-GG design except that a stainless steel tube replaces the titanium tube and the bellows and getter are no longer needed. The DTE CSTW is actuated ``on'' (both sides cold) by the higher CTE of stainless steel compared to beryllium and actuated ``off'' by temporarily applying power to a small heater on the stainless steel tube to expand the tube enough to open the gap. After the smaller of the two beryllium parts warms sufficiently, the heater is no longer needed and the DTE CTSW remains ``off'' (one side cold, one side warm). The DTE design has demonstrated the potential for an ``on'' conductance greater than 1.0 W/K, an ``off'' resistance of 1400 K/W and a range of operation from less than 4K to 300K. This paper describes the design of each CTSW option and the testing that was carried out to verify their performance. .

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Development and testing of advanced cryogenic thermal switch concepts does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Development and testing of advanced cryogenic thermal switch concepts, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Development and testing of advanced cryogenic thermal switch concepts will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1252839

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.