Abstract The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), under the sponsorship of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), developed several long-life cryocooler concepts designed to meet military space system cryogenic refrigeration performance and mission life specifications. These coolers include Stirling cycle, pulse tube, and reverse Brayton cycle machines developed to varying stages of technological maturity. AFRL’s Cryocooler Characterization Laboratory (CCL) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have extensively assessed the thermodynamic performance capabilities of these newly emerging coolers. However, a complete demonstration of the technological maturity of these coolers must include long-term endurance characterization to help determine the long-life potential of these machines. Endurance evaluation attempts to demonstrate that the baseline performance of these machines is maintainable for the 5–10 year design operational life in an environment simulating the conditions of their use in space. These trials also surface any wear out, drift, and fatigue related failure mechanisms associated with cooler designs, allowing for adequate design modifications to improve the long-life potential of these machines. Endurance evaluation also helps to quantify performance shifts over long time periods that must be accounted for in cooler control schemes and spacecraft thermal designs. This paper presents endurance evaluation results for long-life space coolers currently under evaluation at AFRL. Data includes updates on the reverse Brayton cooler and the diaphragm flexure Stirling cooler, both of which have been undergoing endurance evaluation since 1995 and 1996, respectively. It also presents data on new endurance trails associated with several pulse tube and Stirling cycle machines more recently developed by AFRL and delivered to the CCL for characterization and evaluation.
Endurance Evaluation of Long-Life Space Cryocoolers at AFRL—An Update
Cryocoolers 10 ; 33-42
2002-01-01
10 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
Endurance Evaluation of Long-Life Space Cryocoolers at AFRL - an Update
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