Speaker
Description
Thales Alenia Space Italy is developing a Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) based on modular and scalable cells.
The reflective surface of LDR is a warp knitted metallic fabric, made of thin wires, able to assure a high electric conductivity.
The thermal characterization of the mesh presents challenges due to the inapplicability of standard methodologies. To address this, an equivalent 2D thermal mathematical model of the mesh was developed, enabling accurate predictions and yielding time and cost savings
Additionally, a detailed 3D thermal mathematical model of a representative unit cell of the mesh was built, using a dedicated algorithm based on a geometrical representation-
The 3D model was used to estimate the thermo-optical properties to apply to the 2D model, including an equivalent transmissivity and a corrective factor sun angle-related absorptivity / emissivity, accounting for contributions from infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.
Furthermore, sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the impact of wire diameter and the number of nodal networks in the 3D model.
