THE ROLE OF MATERIAL SELECTION IN THE DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OF A COLD GAS
PROPELLANT TANK PRESSURIZED SYSTEM FOR NANOSATELLITE
Abstract
Nanosatellites have tight constraints on mass and volume, and still
require attitude control and orbital manoeuvring capabilities. This
condition is amplified with variation in the propellant and pressurant
storage and delivery systems. This study had its focus on the effect of
material selection on the design and optimization of a cold gas
propellant tank pressurized system for a nanosatellite, using SolidWorks
software. The storage tank was designed using alternative material
choices of Aluminium, Titanium and Nylon to achieve high strength to
density ratio while operating with thermofluid properties of the working
fluid at satellite heights. Th results showed that for the same amount
of applied load, it is evident that aluminium could withstand a higher
stress level of 245.31 MPa than titanium (171.02 MPa) but titanium
suffers lesser strain (0.001399) compared with aluminium which had a
strain value of 0.002917. The membrane displacement was more tolerable
for Titanium (0.03029 mm) than the 0.05589 mm witnessed in Aluminium.
The mass of aluminium (756.77684 g) was much higher than that of
titanium (409.413 g). All these made Titanium the material of choice.