Experimental Validation of a Highly Damped Deployable Solar Panel Module with a Pogo Pin-Based Burn Wire Triggering Release Mechanism

• Main Authors: Shankar Bhattarai, Ji-Seong Go, Hongrae Kim, Hyun-Ung Oh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2020-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8829515

In this present work, a highly damped deployable solar panel module was developed for application in the 3 U CubeSat. The solar panel proposed herein is effective in guaranteeing the structural safety of solar cells under a launch environment owing to the superior damping characteristics achieved using multilayered stiffeners with viscoelastic acrylic tapes. A holding and release action of the solar panel was achieved by a new version of spring-loaded pogo pin-based burn wire triggering mechanism. A demonstration model of high-damping solar panel assembly was fabricated and tested to validate the effectiveness of the design. The holding and release mechanism achieved using a pogo pin was functionally tested through solar panel deployment tests under ambient room temperature and a thermal vacuum environment. The design effectiveness and structural safety of the solar panel module were validated through qualification-level launch and in-orbit environment tests.