Description
Priority 2 activities will only be initiated on the explicit request of at least one delegation.
Objective:
The objective is to manufacture titanium hemispheres for spacecrafts tanks at lower cost, by using new manufacturing techniques
Targeted Improvements:
Reduce tank manufacturing cost by > 25%, while preserving the tank performance.
Description:
The majority of chemical propellant tanks and gas pressure vessels used in European telecommunication spacecraft are based on Titanium shells. The hemisphere sections of these tanks are typically manufactured from forged blanks. The supply of the raw materialsand the forging process are limited to a small number of key suppliers and are very expensive, currently accounting for more than 50% of the overall tank manufacturing costs. Particularly for large diameter tanks the availability of materials and the forging process can become prohibitively expensive.
In order to reduce the overall cost of the tank, it is proposed to investigate alternative methods for manufacturing the tank hemispheres, like: additive manufacture, spinning, fabrication, and pressing. Since these parts are safety and fracture critical (pressurised) items, the design and non-destructive inspection of the parts must complement the different manufacturing method to ensure the correct safety margins are applied.
The proposed work logic is the following:
- Assessment of requirements and potential manufacturing techniques,
- Definition of manufacturing processes and design of breadboard hemisphere,
- Manufacture of breadboard hemispheres,
- Testing and analysis of suitability of produced breadboards,
- Development and qualification roadmap of Ti hemispheres tank manufacturing with selected alternatives techniques.