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.
Dynamic Characterization of an Inflatable Concentrator for Solar Thermal Propulsion
2002
4 pages
Report
No indication
English
AIAA-2001-1406 Dynamic Characterization of an Inflatable Concentrator for Solar Thermal Propulsion
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2001
|Inflatable Concentrators for Solar Thermal Propulsion
NTIS | 1992
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