Analysis and control of equivalent physical simulator for nanosatellite space radiator

A realistic prediction of the in-orbit transient performance of a nanosatellite space radiator requires a ground-based equivalent space radiator with a small size, simple configuration, and fast response. For this purpose, we present in this paper the design concept, operating principle, and analysis algorithm of a novel equivalent physical simulator (EPS) consisting of a thermoelectric cooler (TEC), a plate-fin heat sink, and a forced cooling fan. The TEC-based EPS achieves the purpose of simulating the in-orbit transient heat radiation in earths atmospheric environment by adapting two key parameters: the TEC cooling capacity and the thermal resistance of the heat sink cooling fan. This paper offers results of in-depth numerical parametric studies leading to an EPS design that enables robust simulations under both hot-case and cold-case operations. In addition, we present the design and evaluation of a fuzzy controller for the EPS as an attractive alternative to the traditional PID controller. The fuzzy control presented here will have other potential thermal control applications where TECs and forced cooling heat sinks are employed.