Onboard radioisotope power systems being developed and planned for NASA’s deep‐space missions would require reliable design lifetimes of up to 14 yr. Critical components and materials of Stirling convertors have been undergoing extensive testing and evaluation in support of a reliable performance for the specified life span. Of significant importance to the successful development of the Stirling convertor is the design of a lightweight and highly efficient linear alternator. Alternator performance could vary due to small deviations in the permanent magnet properties, operating temperature, and component geometries. Durability prediction and reliability of the alternator may be affected by these deviations from nominal design conditions. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the effect of these uncertainties in predicting the reliability of the linear alternator performance. This paper presents a study in which a reliability‐based methodology is used to assess alternator performance. The response surface characterizing the induced open‐circuit voltage performance is constructed using 3‐D finite element magnetic analysis. Fast probability integration method is used to determine the probability of the desired performance and its sensitivity to the alternator design parameters.


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    Title :

    Reliability of Radioisotope Stirling Convertor Linear Alternator



    Conference:

    SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INT.FORUM-STAIF 2005: Conf.Thermophys in Micrograv;Conf Comm/Civil Next Gen.Space Transp; 22nd Symp Space Nucl.Powr Propuls.;Conf.Human/Robotic Techn.Nat'l Vision Space Expl.; 3rd Symp Space Colon.; 2nd Symp.New Frontiers ; 2005 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)


    Published in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 746 , 1 ; 641-647


    Publication date :

    2005-02-06


    Size :

    7 pages





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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