Solar-thermal propulsion is a concept for producing thrust sufficient for orbital transfers and requires innovative, lightweight structures. This note presents a description of an inflatable concentrator that consists of a torus, lens simulator, and three tapered struts. Modal testing was discussed for characterization and verification of the solar concentrator assembly. Finite element shell models of the concentrator were developed using a two-step nonlinear approach, and results were compared to test data. Reasonable model-to-test agreement was achieved for the torus, and results for the concentrator assembly were comparable to the test for several modes.


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    Title :

    Dynamic Characterization of an Inflatable Concentrator for Solar Thermal Propulsion


    Contributors:
    L. M. Leigh (author) / M. L. Tinker (author)

    Publication date :

    2002


    Size :

    4 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English