Speaker
Description
In light of the increasing importance of Design for Demise (D4D), the Demisable SADM activity was initiated to better understand the breakup phenomenology of Solar Array Drive Mechanisms, as these components are recurrent units on satellites.
The first phase of the activity made use of the high fidelity reentry simulator SCARAB to recreate a detailed model of KARMA-4 TG, a commercial baseline from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace for LEO missions. Using recommended conditions for the parent spacecraft, simulations for a baseline scenario were conducted and suggested that KARMA-4 TG is demisable with a 5% significance level when released from the spacecraft at an altitude of 76 km or above.
The second phase of the activity consisted of a plasma wind tunnel test campaign carried out on a simplified model of KARMA-4 TG in an effort to verify the fragmentation phenomenology observed in SCARAB.
Using the output of the test campaign, a numerical rebuild was performed in SCARAB which gave a good agreement between simulation and physical test. Both the test campaign and simulations indicate a demisable unit. However, it is important to note there are significant discrepancies between the test unit and the real flight hardware, which may affect results in either direction by making the unit either more demisable or less demisable. Combined with the inherent uncertainties of the D4D field, this only allows to provide a tentative demisability statement.
