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Abstract:
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The growing number of nanosatellite launches over the last decade highlights the wide range of opportunities and applications explored in this sector. To ensure a longer operational lifetime for the nanosatellite, it is essential to develop a thermal management system capable of preserving the integrity of the components and subsystems exposed to the space environment. However, nanosatellites present additional challenges for thermal control due to their low mass, reduced volume, and limited available power. Because of these characteristics, passive thermal control systems are generally preferred, as they require no energy to operate. Within this category, phase change materials (PCMs) stand out for their ability to absorb and release energy in the form of latent heat without changing temperature during the phase transition. In this context, the present work numerically evaluated the thermal behavior of a 1U CubeSat in low Earth orbit, using a PCM as a passive temperature-control system for the battery. The analyzed orbit has an altitude of 500 km, an inclination of 90°, eclipse periods, and an orbital period of approximately 96 minutes. The CubeSat geometry consists of an aluminum structure with a central support housing two batteries surrounded by the PCM. The selected PCM has solidus and liquids temperatures of 0 and 5 °C, respectively, and a latent heat of 171 kJ/kg. The simulations were performed using Ansys Fluent 2024 R1, considering the main radiation sources present in the orbital environment, including solar flux, Earth’s albedo, infrared radiation emitted by the planet, and radiative heat exchange between the CubeSat and space. The results obtained demonstrated that the use of PCM significantly reduces the temperature variation of the battery when compared to other analyzed materials, such as aluminum and teflon. For these latter materials, the temperature amplitude throughout the orbit was approximately 10 °C, regardless of the electrical current considered, whereas for the PCM this variation did not exceed 4 °C in the most critical case, and was even lower for the other current values. Therefore, based on its thermal performance and lower density relative to alternative materials, it is concluded that PCM has strong potential for thermal control applications in the aerospace sector. |
