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Technology for Small Spacecraft (1994) / Chapter Skim
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5 Spacecraft Structures and Materials
Pages 42-49

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From page 42...
... However, this emphasis on low weight may be tempered in some small spacecraft applications that involve demands for low cost, easy adaptability, and growth capability. Although the spacecraft structure and the material of which it is composed are inextricably linked entities in their influences on cost, strength, stiffness, weight, reliability, and adaptability to change, it is nevertheless convenient to discuss separately issues that may be regarded as being predominately in either the structures or materials category.
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From page 43...
... Such appendages must be packaged in collapsed states during launch and subsequently deployed prior to operation. Past and present spacecraft have used a variety of articulated deployable structures as booms supporting instruments or solar cell blankets or as area structures forming antennas or solar arrays.
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From page 44...
... Experimental smart structures developed by NASA, by DoD, and elsewhere consist of composite material plies containing piezoelectric4 sensors and actuators to control mechanical behavior. Other possible actuator technologies are based on shape-memory materials (e.g., Nitinol)
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From page 45...
... Based on buckling and yield strength, an increase in the elastic modulus and yield strength or tensile strength should produce a corresponding decrease in the structural weight. Aluminum-lithium alloys can provide up to 12 percent higher elastic stiffness and, in the case of Alcoa alloy 2090, an increase of almost 20 percent in tensile strength over conventional aluminum alloys such as 2219 and 2014.
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From page 46...
... Further, industry estimates suggest that the costs of graphite epoxy or similar composite materials may actually, in the long run, be less than those of monolithic metals in the same application. Although polymer-matrix composites are subject to space environment degradation effects that must be considered, there are no indications so far that their structural performance would be seriously threatened by the three-to-five year exposures currently contemplated for most small spacecraft missions.
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From page 47...
... For ~ ~ "7 , example, Rockwell has developed copper-matrix composites with fiber reinforcements of graphite, molybdenum, or tungsten for actively cooled structures in hypersonic aircraft and rocket nozzles and in radiator fins for space power systems. These composites are stable in high heat flux and in thermal cycling applications, and they offer improved creep resistance compared with conventional conductive alloys.
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From page 48...
... Finally, against a background of considerable existing theoretical and laboratory research, but with little established flight experience available, small spacecraft engineers will have to be heavily involved with the nascent technologies of control-structures interaction and smart structures and their exciting promise, including their integration into the overall spacecraft system as cost-cutting and weight-saving elements. FINDINGS AND PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS NASA has potentially important roles to play in the creation, enhancement, and application of structures and materials technology for small spacecraft, both in its traditional capacity as an agency for frontier.
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From page 49...
... 4. A short-term demonstration program with industry should be undertaken to design, construct, and qualify a small spacecraft structure based primarily on current structural design configurations that exploit aluminum-lithium alloys in lieu of aluminum in order to determine the feasibility of rapid weight savings with minimal effort and cost.
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Key Terms

  • aluminum alloys
  • weight savings
  • deployable structures
  • conventional aluminum
  • smart structures

  • low weight
  • composite materials
  • increased stiffness
  • spacecraft structure
  • martin marietta

  • space environment
  • tensile strength
  • prime contractors
  • silicon carbide
  • spacecraft structural

  • vibration suppression
  • composite structures
  • structural weight
  • spacecraft missions
  • yield strength

  • national aerospace
  • dimensional change
  • reversible dimensional
  • aerospace plane
  • advanced materials

  • density ratios
  • graphite epoxy
  • booms supporting
  • active vibration
  • estimates suggest


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