Abstract:
Owing to its structural simplicity and superior performance, the vane-type surface tension tank has been widely applied in many satellites. In this paper, a 2.67 L vane-type propellant tank and its Propellant Management Device (PMD) were designed for micro satellites. The design process of key components, including the tank shell, propellant reservoir, vanes and bubble screen, was described in detail. Firstly, the design of the propellant reservoir was completed based on the principle of liquid accumulation between parallel plates, and the liquid volume under different acceleration disturbances was obtained. The outline and the number of internal and external vanes was carried out based on the theory of capillary flow in corners. Secondly, a bubble screen was selected and the effectiveness of the bubble screen in typical situation was checked. Finally, by CFD simulation, the centroid variation of the propellant in the tank under different fill levels and acceleration disturbances was analyzed. The simulation results demonstrate that when the tank is subjected to 10
–3g acceleration disturbances, the centroid variation of the propellant is less than 10
–2 m, proving that the 2.67 L vane-type surface tension tank exhibits strong resistance to disturbances.