Abstract During manned long-term missions in orbit, sealed structures have to meet the challenges of the space environment, such as meteoroids and space debris impacts, charged particles radiation, temperature cycling, vacuum environment, etc. Sealed structures and rubber sealing may be damaged by these factors. A sealed module faces the risk of leaks that can affect the pressure inside the module and even threaten the safety of the astronauts. Therefore, when performing leak-proof welding, it is an important precondition to know how to repair the failed structure and how to detect and locate the leak rapidly. General leak monitoring methods were surveyed and analyzed and it was demonstrated that any method, when used alone, can’t be used effectively for rapid detection and location of leaks in a sealed structure. A multi-sensor data fusion method is presented that allows diagnosing the leaks and the leakage rate thus allowing for effective leak detection and location in sealed spacecraft structures. The leak detection and location system consists of two subsystems: pressure leak monitor and meteoroid and space debris impact monitor. These two subsystems work continuously to monitor the spacecraft leakage rate and impact damage, respectively. In addition, an information interface, estimation strategy, and transfer flow of five subsystems were designed. This method is substantiated by a ground experiment to confirm that the sealed structure leak reason, location and leakage rate can be detected accurately and can be applied in welding operations directly.
Leak Detection and Location of Seals in Spacecraft Structures Based on a Multi-sensor Data Fusion Method
2017-01-01
10 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
Leak detection and location , Structure health estimation , Manned spacecraft , Seal structure , Multi-sensor data fusion , Structure protection Engineering , Nanotechnology and Microengineering , Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics) , Materials Engineering
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