Post on 25-May-2022
GPM Avionics Module Heat Pipes Design and Performance Test Results
16th Conference on Thermophysics Applications in Microgravity 19 March 2012
Laura Ottenstein
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD 20771
Laura.Ottenstein-1@nasa.gov Phone: 301-286-4141
Mike DeChristopher
Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc Lancaster, PA 17601
Mike.Dechristopher@1-ACT.com Phone: 717-295-6108
Outline
• Background
• Avionics Module Thermal Design
• Spacecraft Thermal Avionics and Battery (STAB) Test
• Test Profile
• Results
• Conclusions
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BACKGROUND
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Global Precipitation Measurement
• GPM is a satellite constellation to study precipitation formed from a partnership between NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
• The GPM Core Observatory, being developed and tested at GSFC, serves as a reference standard to unify precipitation measurements from the GPM satellite constellation
• The Core Observatory carries an advanced radar/radiometer system to measure precipitation from space
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GPM Background, cont.
• The scientific data gained from GPM will benefit both NASA and JAXA by: – Advancing our understanding of Earth’s water and energy
cycle
– Improving forecasts of extreme weather events
– Extending our current capabilities in using accurate and timely precipitation information to benefit society
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GPM Core Observatory • The GPM Core Observatory consists of three major components:
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GPM Microwave Imager (GMI)Ball Aerospace Dual Precipitation
Radar (DPR)JAXA
Spacecraft BusGSFC
Ku-Band Precipitation Radar (KuPR), JAXA
Ka-Band Precipitation Radar (KaPR), JAXA
Lower Bus Structure (LBS)GSFC
-Y Solar ArrayGSFC
+Y Solar ArrayGSFC
High Gain Antenna System (HGAS), GSFC
Avionics Module (AM)GSFC
Upper Bus Structure GSFC
PropulsionGSFC
Launch Date: Early 2014
Launch Vehicle: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA(provided by JAXA)
AVIONICS MODULE THERMAL DESIGN
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Avionics Module
Electronics Box Number of Boxes
Thermal Control
Power System Electronics (PSE)
1 Two heat pipes transfer heat to radiator
Command and Data Handling (C & DH)
2 Two heat pipes transfer heat to radiator (shared with both boxes and with both MACE boxes)
Mechanism and Attitude Control Electronics (MACE)
2 Two heat pipes transfer heat to radiator (shared with both boxes and with both C&DH boxes)
Propulsion Interface Electronics (PIE)
1 Low heat dissipation, local thermal control (not discussed further)
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GPM Avionics Module Thermal Model
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Avionics Module Thermal Control
• A network of heat pipes are used for cooling the electronics boxes on the Avionics Module
• Two transport pipes cool the MACE and C&DH boxes (two boxes each, both pipes cool all four boxes)
• Two transport pipes cool the PSE • All transport pipes connect to a honeycomb radiator which contains
13 embedded heat pipes • The heat pipes and radiator were supplied by Advanced Cooling
Technologies – The radiator was manufactured by MDA using heat pipes supplied by ACT
• Components were delivered to GSFC in the fall of 2010 • There are survival heaters on the condensers of the PSE heat pipes
and on the radiator over the radiator spreader pipes that connect to the MACE/C&DH transport pipes
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Transport Heat Pipes
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PSE pipe (one shown)
MACE/C&DH U-shaped pipe
MACE/C&DH S-shaped pipe
Photo by ACT
MACE/C&DH Transport Pipes on Installation Fixture
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Avionics Transport Heat Pipes
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Avionics Radiator Showing Embedded Heat Pipe Layout
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Avionics Radiator (looking from back)
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PSE HP +X PSE HP -X
CDH/MACE HP -X
CDH/MACE HP +X
Heat Pipe Interface Heater
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SPACECRAFT THERMAL AVIONICS AND BATTERY (STAB) TEST
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STAB Test Hardware • Flight-like Avionics Module • No Lower Bus Structure (LBS), simulated temperature/heat flows at the interface using a cold plate • Baseplate simulators for MACE and C&DH Boxes with heaters to simulate power dissipation
– Flight-like interface (NuSil) • Mass simulators for PSE and Batteries with heaters to simulate power dissipation
– Flight-like interface (NuSil for PSE, ChoTherm for batteries) • Flight Avionics radiator and installation
– Flight heaters installed • Flight-spare Avionics heat pipes
– Flight-like interfaces (NuSil at Avionics Module, eGraf at radiator) • Flight Battery Thermal Control System assembly
– Flight heat pipes – Flight heaters, thermostats, temperature sensors installed – Flight radiator with flight thermal hardware installed
• Heaters to simulate flight harness heating and any additional heating from the PIE, ST/SSIRU bracket, or GPS and OMNI towers
• Flight and Non-flight MLI – MLI used to close out Avionics Module and Battery assembly – Preliminary radiator closeout MLI, flight MLI on Avionics radiator backside
• Cryopanel simulating sink for battery and avionics radiators
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STAB Test Concept
• Three thermal balance points: – Hot Beta 0
– Cold Beta 0
– Cold Beta 90 Nominal Operations
• Transient power simulation for batteries and PSE (Beta 0)
• Thermostat and survival heater check-outs
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STAB TEST CONCEPT
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PSE simulator
Battery simulators
MACE simulators
C&DH simulators (not shown) Battery
Radiator
Avionics Radiator
Cryopanel
Coldplate
Test Assembly Being Removed from Chamber
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Avionics Radiator
Battery Radiator
Avionics Radiator Temperature Sensors
CTM-325
CTM-326
CTM-327 CTM-328 TC-101
TC-102 TC-103
TC-104 TC-105
TC-106
CTM-330
CTM-331 CDH/MACE HP +X
TC-110
TC-111
TC-107 TC-108
TC-109
TC-119 CTM-329
TC-112
PSE HP +X PSE HP -X
CTM-332
CDH/MACE HP -X
TC-41 TC-45 TC-58 TC-44 TC-59
TC-56
TC-57
TC-42 TC-43 TC-46 T
TC-47
TC-49
TC-51
TC-99
21
+X +Z
TC = Thermocouple (Type T) CTM = Thermistor
Avionics Transport Heat Pipe Thermocouples
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TC-154 TC-140
TC-142
TC-145
TC-76
TC-108
TC-119 TC-112 TC-113
TC-115
TC-116 TC-114
TC-117 TC-118
TCs 113-118 on the heat pipe body on the opposite side of the flange than shown.
TEST PROFILE
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Tem
pera
ture
Time
0
1
2 3
4
5
6
8
9
10 11
12
13
7
Planned Test Profile
0. Test chamber checkout, pump down, battery thermostat verification
1. Transition to hot balance2. Hot Beta 0 balance 3. Transition to CDH-1 & 2 to full power4. Both CDHs to full power5. Transition to Hot Beta 06. Hot Beta 07. Transient profile:
a. Transient PSE power simulationb. Battery Failure checkout
8. Transition to cold Beta 0 nominal ops, nominal power balance
9. Cold Beta 0 nominal ops, nominal power balance
10. Transition to cold beta 90 balance 11. Cold beta 90 balance
a. Avionics survival Heater checkoutb. Battery Heater Control Algorithm Testing
12. Transition to ambient13. Return to ambient
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Actual Test Profile (requested)
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-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
0
50
100
150
200
250
0:00:00 24:00:00 48:00:00 72:00:00 96:00:00 120:00:00 144:00:00 168:00:00 192:00:00 216:00:00
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Pow
er (W
)
Time (HH:MM:SS)
PSE Power BAT 1 Sim Power BAT 2 Sim Power BAT 3 Sim Power
CDH 1 Sim Power CDH 2 Sim Power MACE 1 Sim Power MACE 2 Sim Power
Facility Shroud Temp Cryopanel Fixture Temp Cold Plate Temp
Chamber pump-down and battery thermostat verification
Hot Beta 0 Balance Cold Beta 0 nominal ops
Cold Beta 90 balance, survival heater verification, battery algorithm checkout
Return to Ambient
TEST RESULTS
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Results
• Transport pipes started as soon as power was applied and operated throughout test – Temperature data accuracy was not sufficient to allow
calculation of conductances
• Very limited data is available for straight radiator pipes, but these appear to start immediately and operate throughout the test
• L-pipe radiator spreaders showed delayed start-up, some may not have started at all – This result was expected for these small heat pipes tested
in reflux mode and is consistent with pre-delivery tests
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MACE/C&DH Transport Pipes
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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
11/13/11 17:00 11/14/11 11:00 11/15/11 5:00 11/15/11 23:00 11/16/11 17:00 11/17/11 11:00 11/18/11 5:00 11/18/11 23:00 11/19/11 17:00
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Date Time
112 +X MACE/CDH HP Condnsr 113 -X MACE/CDH HP Evap MACE B 114 -X MACE/CDH HP Evap CDH B
115 +X MACE/CDH HP Evap MACE A 116 +X MACE/CDH HP Evap CDH A 119 -X MACE/CDH HP Condensr
142 -X CDH/MACE H/P bend 145 +X CDH/MACE H/P bend FLX7-5 CDH1 Watts
FLX7-6 CDH2 Watts FLX7-7 MACE1 Watts FLX7-8 MACE2 Watts
Avionics A Surv Power Avionics B Surv Power
Cryopanelat -85 °C Cryopanelat -128 °CCryopanelat -100 °C
Heat Pipes operate essentially isothermally throughout test
MACE/C&DH Transport Pipes Start-Up
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0
40
80
120
160
200
240
280
320
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
11/13/11 19:00 11/13/11 19:30 11/13/11 20:00 11/13/11 20:30 11/13/11 21:00
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Date Time
112 +X MACE/CDH HP Condnsr 113 -X MACE/CDH HP Evap MACE B 114 -X MACE/CDH HP Evap CDH B
115 +X MACE/CDH HP Evap MACE A 116 +X MACE/CDH HP Evap CDH A 119 -X MACE/CDH HP Condensr
142 -X CDH/MACE H/P bend 145 +X CDH/MACE H/P bend FLX7-5 CDH1 Watts
FLX7-6 CDH2 Watts FLX7-7 MACE1 Watts FLX7-8 MACE2 Watts
Avionics A Surv Power Avionics B Surv Power
PSE Transport Pipes
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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
11/13/11 17:00 11/14/11 11:00 11/15/11 5:00 11/15/11 23:00 11/16/11 17:00 11/17/11 11:00 11/18/11 5:00 11/18/11 23:00 11/19/11 17:00
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Date Time
76 PSE +X HP condenser 108 PSE -X HP condenser 117 +X PSE HP Evap 118 -X PSE HP Evap
140 +X PSE H/P adia 154 -X PSE H/P adia FLX7-1 PSE Watts FLX9-3 PSE HP Heater A
FLX9-4 PSE HP Heater B Total MACE/CDH/AV Power
Cryopanelat -85 °C Cryopanelat -128 °CCryopanelat -100 °C
Heat Pipes operate essentially isothermally throughout test
PSE Transport Pipes Start-Up
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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
11/13/11 19:00 11/13/11 19:30 11/13/11 20:00 11/13/11 20:30 11/13/11 21:00
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Date Time
76 PSE +X HP condenser 108 PSE -X HP condenser 117 +X PSE HP Evap 118 -X PSE HP Evap
140 +X PSE H/P adia 154 -X PSE H/P adia FLX7-1 PSE Watts FLX9-3 PSE HP Heater A
FLX9-4 PSE HP Heater B Total MACE/CDH/AV Power
Heat Pipes start as soon as power is applied
L-Shaped Spreader Pipes 1-5
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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
11/13/11 17:00 11/14/11 11:00 11/15/11 5:00 11/15/11 23:00 11/16/11 17:00 11/17/11 11:00 11/18/11 5:00 11/18/11 23:00 11/19/11 17:00
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Date Time
56 AV Rad L pipe 1 Evap 325 Av Rad L Pipe 1 Cond 101 Av Rad L pipe 2 Evap 41 AV Rad L-pipe 2 Cond
42 AV Rad L-pipe 3 Evap 102 Av Rad L pipe 3 Cond 327 Av Rad L Pipe 4 Evap 58 AV Rad L pipe 4 Cond
43 AV Rad L-pipe 5 Evap 103 Av Rad L pipe 5 Cond Total PSE Power Total MACE/CDH/AV Power
Cryopanelat -128 °CCryopanelat -100 °CCryopanelat -85 °C
Due to the tight network of pipes, it is difficult to determine which are operating and which may not be.
L-Shaped Spreader Pipes 6-10
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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
11/13/11 17:00 11/14/11 11:00 11/15/11 5:00 11/15/11 23:00 11/16/11 17:00 11/17/11 11:00 11/18/11 5:00 11/18/11 23:00 11/19/11 17:00
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Date Time
104 Av Rad L pipe 6 Evap 44 AV Rad L-pipe 6 Cond 57 AV Rad L pipe 7 Evap 326 Av Rad L Pipe 7 Cond
105 Av Rad L pipe 8 Evap 45 AV Rad L-pipe 8 Cond 46 AV Rad L-pipe 9 Evap 106 Av Rad L pipe 9 Cond
328 Av Rad L Pipe 10 Evap 59 AV Rad L pipe 10 Cond Total PSE Power Total MACE/CDH/AV Power
Cryopanelat -128 °CCryopanelat -100 °CCryopanelat -85 °C
L-Shaped Spreader Pipes 1-5 Start-Up
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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
11/13/11 19:00 11/13/11 21:00 11/13/11 23:00 11/14/11 1:00 11/14/11 3:00 11/14/11 5:00
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Date Time
56 AV Rad L pipe 1 Evap 325 Av Rad L Pipe 1 Cond 101 Av Rad L pipe 2 Evap 41 AV Rad L-pipe 2 Cond
42 AV Rad L-pipe 3 Evap 102 Av Rad L pipe 3 Cond 327 Av Rad L Pipe 4 Evap 58 AV Rad L pipe 4 Cond
43 AV Rad L-pipe 5 Evap 103 Av Rad L pipe 5 Cond Total PSE Power Total MACE/CDH/AV Power
Pipe start-ups are staggered over a number of hours. Some temperature changes may be due to neighbor pipes starting.
L-Shaped Spreader Pipes 6-10 Start-Up
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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
11/13/11 19:00 11/13/11 21:00 11/13/11 23:00 11/14/11 1:00 11/14/11 3:00 11/14/11 5:00
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Date Time
104 Av Rad L pipe 6 Evap 44 AV Rad L-pipe 6 Cond 57 AV Rad L pipe 7 Evap 326 Av Rad L Pipe 7 Cond
105 Av Rad L pipe 8 Evap 45 AV Rad L-pipe 8 Cond 46 AV Rad L-pipe 9 Evap 106 Av Rad L pipe 9 Cond
328 Av Rad L Pipe 10 Evap 59 AV Rad L pipe 10 Cond Total PSE Power Total MACE/CDH/AV Power
Start-up of pipes 7 and 8? These two pipes are not directly connected to transport pipes.
L-Shaped Spreader Pipes Start-Up Delta Ts
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0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
11/13/11 19:00 11/13/11 22:00 11/14/11 1:00 11/14/11 4:00 11/14/11 7:00 11/14/11 10:00
Pow
er (W
)
Evap
orat
or T
empe
ratu
re -
Cond
ense
r Te
mpe
ratu
re (°
C)
Date Time
Pipe 1 Delta T Pipe 2 Delta T Pipe 3 Delta T Pipe 4 Delta T Pipe 5 Delta T Pipe 6 Delta T
Pipe 7 Delta T Pipe 8 Delta T Pipe 9 Delta T Pipe 10 Delta T Total PSE Power
Thermistor Data Drop-Out
Start-up of one or more pipes.
Unclear what happened here. (No changes to test conditions)
19 March 2012 16th Conference on Thermophysics Applications in Microgravity 37
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
16.0
18.0
20.0
20.0
22.0
24.0
26.0
28.0
30.0
32.0
34.0
36.0
38.0
40.0
0.0 500.0 1000.0 1500.0 2000.0 2500.0 3000.0 3500.0 4000.0 4500.0 5000.0
Pow
er (W
)
Tem
pera
ture
(°C)
Time (Sec)
Reflux Start-Up Test, L-Pipe S/N 009 (Radiator Pipe 5), 22 July 2011 Stand-Alone Test, pre-delivery
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 A1 A2 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 Ambient Power
Start-Up
Typical start-up of short evaporator heat pipe tested in reflux configuration (with fully flooded evaporator).
Conclusions • Horizontal pipes (all transport pipes, straight spreaders in radiator)
operated as expected – Started as soon as power was applied – Operated nearly isothermally throughout test
• Small heat pipes (operating in reflux mode) did not start immediately – This was consistent with previous testing of these pipes in this
configuration and with testing of similar pipes on another program – Delayed start-up believed to be due to fully flooded evaporator and low
power available to initiate nucleate boiling • Simulator temperatures were well within temperature predictions
and the system as a whole met all thermal requirements • Inaccuracies in thermocouple measurements make comparisons
between pipes and calculations of conductances difficult, if not impossible
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