A design feature of the construction of electric heaters for non-pressurized spacecraft using a heating element in the form of a tape of a material with high resistivity, located on a flat base (electrical insulating substrate) in the form of a snake with the organization of the necessary gaps between the tapes, is revealed. A mathematical model has been developed for calculating the main design parameters of electric heaters: power, mass, heated surface area. The nomenclature of efficiency indicators used as optimization criteria has been formed: power utilization factor, filling factor of an electrically insulating substrate tape, surface density, energy-mass efficiency, thermal efficiency of heating, target efficiency. The methodological principles for ranking the requirements for the parameters of electric heaters are determined using the selected optimization criteria: the preferred use of tape materials with high resistivity and minimum thickness. A method is formulated for step-by-step calculation of the parameters of electric heaters in the presence of restrictions on the maximum heat flux density determined from the conditions for the use of electric heaters. General recommendations have been developed for choosing the parameters of electric heaters: use increased voltage, minimize the thickness of the heating element tape and the width of the gap between the tapes, determine the minimum value of the tape length for the maximum heat flux density at a given voltage rating.
The article deals with the methods of transfer of thermal energy of electric heaters to the nodes and devices of non-pressurized spacecraft, which are part of the spacecraft in the target orbits in the conditions of regular use. The basic technical characteristics of perspective electric heaters for operating conditions are developed, the model of regular position of electric heaters allowing to define ways of increase of efficiency and efficiency of electric heaters is developed. The main results of the development of flexible film electric heaters various design using materials produced by the domestic industry and manufactured using a new method based on the method of photolithography and etching the resistive layer, allowing to implement new functionality and improve efficiency of electric heaters, the experiments confirming the calculations in conditions simulating operational influences on electric heaters. The using of flexible film electric heaters increased efficiency in the existing and future spacecraft can improve the efficiency of the thermal control system as a whole, improves manufacturability.
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