| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T23: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Additive Manufacturing: Design, Materials, Manufacturing, Challenges and Applications
|
| Presentation Title |
High-strength Aluminum Alloy Selection for Space Optical Instruments |
| Author(s) |
Walter Zimbeck, Zachary Post, Steven Storck, Robert Mueller, Benjamin Stewart, William H. Swartz, Gerard Otter, Floris C. M. van Kempen |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Walter Zimbeck |
| Abstract Scope |
Commercial additive manufacturing aluminum alloys were evaluated against requirements for structural housing and mirror components of a space optical instrument. The Compact Hyperspectral Air Pollution Sensor (CHAPS) is an imaging spectrometer in a cubesat form factor. The CHAPS demonstrator, CHAPS-D, uses freeform optics and topology optimized additive manufacturing to achieve reduced mass and volume. In order to select the preferred material for CHAPS, three candidate alloys were experimentally tested for mechanical and thermal properties, print quality, and compatibility with post process steps. Scalmalloy scored best in a quantitative selection process, and S-basis property values were used in the topology optimization design process, which considered coupled structural-thermal-optical performance, the constraints of laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing, precision machining of mirror mount surfaces, and attachment point to the cubesat frame. The results and lessons learned of fabrication and environmental testing of the CHAPS-D breadboard are presented. |