Open Access

ARTICLE

Meter-Scale Thin-Walled Structure with Lattice Infill for Fuel Tank Supporting Component of Satellite: Multiscale Design and Experimental Verification

by Xiaoyu Zhang^1,2, Huizhong Zeng², Shaohui Zhang², Yan Zhang^3,*, Mi Xiao⁴, Liping Liu², Hao Zhou^2,*, Hongyou Chai², Liang Gao⁴

1 Beijing Key Laboratory of Lightweight Multi-Functional Composite Materials and Structures, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China
2 Beijing Key Laboratory of Intelligent Space Robotic Systems Technology and Applications, Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, China Academy of Space Technology, Beijing, 100094, China
3 Key Laboratory of Metallurgical Equipment and Control Technology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430081, China
4 State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

* Corresponding Authors: Yan Zhang. Email: ; Hao Zhou. Email:

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2024, 138(1), 201-220. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2023.029389

Received 15 February 2023; Accepted 31 March 2023; Issue published 22 September 2023

Abstract

Lightweight thin-walled structures with lattice infill are widely desired in satellite for their high stiffness-to-weight ratio and superior buckling strength resulting from the sandwich effect. Such structures can be fabricated by metallic additive manufacturing technique, such as selective laser melting (SLM). However, the maximum dimensions of actual structures are usually in a sub-meter scale, which results in restrictions on their appliance in aerospace and other fields. In this work, a meter-scale thin-walled structure with lattice infill is designed for the fuel tank supporting component of the satellite by integrating a self-supporting lattice into the thickness optimization of the thin-wall. The designed structure is fabricated by SLM of AlSi10Mg and cold metal transfer welding technique. Quasi-static mechanical tests and vibration tests are both conducted to verify the mechanical strength of the designed large-scale lattice thin-walled structure. The experimental results indicate that the meter-scale thin-walled structure with lattice infill could meet the dimension and lightweight requirements of most spacecrafts.

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Keywords

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