JP3069909B2 - Space environment test equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention forms a high-vacuum and cryogenic environment substantially equivalent to the space environment, and is used for testing various devices used in space such as artificial satellites. Related to a device for performing.

[Conventional technology]

Space environment test equipment (space chamber) is usually
As shown in FIG. 5, a shroud 2 comprising a cylindrical body shroud 2a and mirror shrouds 2b at both ends of the body shroud 2a is disposed in a cylindrical vacuum vessel 1. The inside of the vacuum vessel 1 is maintained at a high vacuum by a vacuum evacuation system (not shown) connected to the vessel 1, and the shroud 2 is cooled to a very low temperature by the liquid nitrogen supplied to the shroud 2 via the liquid nitrogen supply system 3. As a result, the inside of the vacuum vessel 1 is maintained at an extremely low temperature. Further, the liquid nitrogen supply system 3 is provided with a nitrogen gas supply system 3a and a nitrogen gas heater 3b for heating the shroud 2 after the test to normal temperature.

When testing a device such as an artificial satellite with such a space environment test apparatus, first, the shroud 2 in the vacuum vessel 1 is used.
After the test specimen is stored in the portion surrounded by, the vacuum evacuation system is activated to make the inside of the vacuum vessel 1 high vacuum, and then liquid nitrogen is supplied to the shroud 2 from the liquid nitrogen supply system 3 to evacuate the inside of the vacuum vessel 1. Cool to simulate the cryogenic temperature of the universe.

After the test, a heated nitrogen gas heated by a nitrogen gas heater 3b is supplied from the nitrogen gas supply system 3a of the liquid nitrogen supply system 3 to the shroud 2, and the inside of the vacuum vessel 1 is heated to room temperature.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-described conventional apparatus, when heating the inside of the vacuum vessel 1 after the test, a heated nitrogen gas is supplied into the shroud 2 as described above. There is a problem that nitrogen gas is required. There is also a method in which nitrogen gas is introduced into the vacuum vessel 1 to several tens of torr (Torr) without using heated nitrogen gas, and the inside of the vessel is heated by natural convection of the nitrogen gas. It takes a very long time to heat to room temperature, and there is a problem that the vacuum vessel is cooled and the surface of the vessel is dewed.

Further, since the outside of the shroud 2 immediately becomes the vacuum vessel 1, depending on the size of the apparatus, the shroud 2
The amount of radiant heat infiltration increases due to the temperature difference between the temperature during normal operation (approx.
There is also a problem that the consumption of liquid nitrogen as a cooling medium for the shroud 2 increases.

Therefore, the present invention significantly reduces the consumption of the heated nitrogen gas during heating or eliminates the need for the heated nitrogen gas, and enables the heating to room temperature in a short time, and the radiant heat during the steady operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a space environment test apparatus capable of reducing the consumption of liquid nitrogen for cooling by reducing the amount of liquid nitrogen.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, a space environment test device of the present invention is a space environment test device in which a shroud for cooling the inside of a vacuum vessel is provided, wherein radiant heat is shut off in the vacuum vessel. A shield plate and a heater for heating the inside of the vacuum vessel are provided. In particular, a heater is provided outside the shroud, and a shield plate is further provided outside the heater. It is characterized by having done.

(Operation)

In the space environment test apparatus having the above configuration, the amount of the heated nitrogen gas can be reduced by using the heater at the time of heating, and the heating time of the shroud can be reduced. In addition, by arranging a heater between the shroud and the shield plate, the heat of the heater can be efficiently transmitted to the shroud, and the amount of nitrogen gas used can be further reduced, reducing the heating time of the shroud. it can. Further, by providing a shield plate between the shroud and the vacuum vessel wall, heat loss due to heat radiation between the shroud and the vacuum vessel wall can be reduced by the shield plate, and the consumption of cooling liquid nitrogen can be reduced. .

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 show a first embodiment of the space environment test apparatus of the present invention. As in a conventional case, a cylindrical vacuum vessel 10 having end plates at both ends is provided inside a vacuum vessel 10. A shroud 11 composed of a cylindrical trunk shroud 11a and mirror shrouds 11b disposed at both ends of the trunk shroud 11a is provided so as to cover the entire inner periphery thereof, and the shroud 11 is A liquid nitrogen supply system 12 for supplying liquid nitrogen for cooling, a heated nitrogen gas supply system 12a and a nitrogen gas heater 12b attached to the liquid nitrogen supply system 12 are connected in series. The heating nitrogen gas supply system 12a supplies the nitrogen gas for heating heated by the nitrogen gas heater 12b to the shroud 11
The cooling liquid nitrogen or the heating nitrogen gas is supplied to the shroud 11 by switching the valves 12c and 12d.

The shroud 11 includes a cylindrical body shroud 11a arranged along the peripheral wall of the vacuum vessel 10 and a disk-shaped mirror shroud 11b arranged at both axial ends of the vacuum vessel 10. . The body shroud 11a is a cylindrical shroud provided with a liquid nitrogen path, or a number of finned tubes held by a ring-shaped shroud support 13a, and the mirror part shroud 11b is provided with a liquid nitrogen flow path. A disk-shaped shroud is held by a support 13b.

A plurality of heaters 14 are arranged on the outer side of the shroud 11 so as to surround the shroud 11,
Further, a shield plate 15 is provided outside the heater 14 so as to surround the heater 14. In particular, the heater 14 provided on the outer side of the trunk shroud 11a includes:
A sheath heater having a length corresponding to the length of the trunk shroud 11a is used, and the ring-shaped shroud support is used.
It is inserted into a through hole 16 formed in 13a and is held by the shroud support 13a.

The output of the heater 14 and the number of heaters used are appropriately determined depending on the size of the vacuum vessel 10 and the like.
In order to make heat transfer to the heater uniform, it is preferable to use heaters having the same output and arrange them at equal intervals. Furthermore, by using heaters of the same dimensions, assembly and replacement can be easily performed, and the amount of storage for damage replacement can be reduced. Also, as described above, by inserting and holding the heater 14 in the through hole 16 formed in the shroud support 13a, for example, in the case of replacement,
All you have to do is remove the heater 5 in the axial direction and insert it.
Replacement work becomes easy.

It should be noted that even if the heaters 14 cannot be provided at regular intervals due to the positional relationship with the exhaust nozzle and other components provided in the vacuum vessel 10, it is desirable to arrange the heaters 14 at regular intervals as much as possible.

Further, the shield plate 15 is provided on the shroud support.
It is provided on the outer side of 13a and is arranged so as to partition between the shroud 11 and the wall of the vacuum vessel 10. As the shield plate 15, it is preferable to use a thin plate of stainless steel, for example, a 0.5 mm thin plate that has been subjected to brightening treatment or buffing. That is, since the stainless steel which has been subjected to the above pretreatment has a glossy surface, it is effective as a heat reflection plate. In the case of a thin plate, processing and assembly are easy. Further, it is easily available and has a small heat shrinkage ratio as compared with aluminum, so that it is suitable for space environment test equipment having a large temperature change.

The shield plate 13 may be fixed to the shroud support 13a via a metal fitting having an L-shaped cross section as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, or may be fixed directly to the support 13a.

In addition, the heater 14 and the shield plate 15 on the mirror shroud 11b side are attached to the column 13b via an appropriate spacer or holding member, for example, a cross-shaped shroud support in the same manner as described above.

By forming the space environment test equipment in this way,
During steady-state operation, the shield plate 15 reduces heat radiation between the shroud 11 and the wall of the vacuum vessel 10, thereby reducing heat loss and reducing the amount of liquid nitrogen supplied to the shroud 11 by 30% or more. Can be.

When the interior of the vacuum vessel 10 is heated to room temperature after the test, the heater 14 is energized, and instead of the liquid nitrogen of the liquid nitrogen supply system 12, the nitrogen gas heater 12b is supplied from the nitrogen gas supply system 12a. Shroud 11 nitrogen gas heated in
To the shroud 11 along with the heating power of the heater 14.
Heat. At this time, the heat radiated from the heater 14 to the container wall is reflected by the shield plate 15 and shroud 11
, It can be heated very efficiently, and can be heated to room temperature in a short time. For example, the heating time, which conventionally required 20 hours or more, can be reduced to several hours. In addition, the heating by the heater 14 and the shortening of the heating time can greatly reduce the consumption of the nitrogen gas for heating and the power consumption. In addition, a small amount of nitrogen gas is introduced into the vacuum
By operating the nitrogen gas and heating the nitrogen gas, the nitrogen gas for heating can be eliminated without providing the nitrogen gas supply system 12a.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. As in the first embodiment, a shroud 21 is provided in a vacuum vessel 20 and an appropriate number of shrouds are provided on the inner peripheral side thereof. A heater 22 and a shield plate 23 are provided. With this configuration, it is possible to warm the container to room temperature after the test is completed in a short time, and to significantly reduce or reduce the consumption of the nitrogen gas for heating. Can be.

Incidentally, the configuration of each part and the configuration of the peripheral device can be appropriately optimized according to the size of the space environment test apparatus and the like.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to significantly reduce the consumption of liquid nitrogen, which is a shroud cooling medium of a space environment test apparatus, and to extremely efficiently perform heating up to room temperature after the test. This makes it possible to greatly reduce the consumption of the nitrogen gas for heating, and further significantly reduce the heating time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a space environment test apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vacuum vessel with a part cut away, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a vacuum vessel body, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a vacuum vessel showing an embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a conventional space environment test apparatus. 10 Vacuum container, 11 Shroud, 12 Liquid nitrogen supply system, 13a Shroud support, 14 Heater, 1
5 ... Shield plate, 16 ... Through hole

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-245232 (JP, A) JP-A-62-258900 (JP, A) JP-A-61-232999 (JP, A) JP-A-61-261200 (JP, A) , A) Hira 3-25400 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B64G 7/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A space environment test apparatus in which a shroud for cooling the inside of a vacuum vessel is provided in a vacuum vessel, wherein a shield plate for blocking radiant heat is provided in the vacuum vessel, and a heater for heating the inside of the vacuum vessel. A space environment test device, comprising: 2. A space environment test apparatus in which a shroud for cooling the inside of a vacuum vessel is provided in a vacuum vessel, wherein a heater for heating the inside of the vacuum vessel is provided on the outside of the shroud. A space environment test apparatus characterized in that a shield plate for blocking radiant heat is provided on the outside. 3. A shroud support for holding said shroud is provided with through holes at equal intervals to hold a sheathed heater having the same dimensions and the same capacity in said through holes, and a stainless steel seed on the outside of said shroud support. The space environment test apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plate is held.