NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION ON THE THERMOMECHANICAL PERFORMANCES OF NANOSATELLITE ASSEMBLIES.

The present paper proposes a new approach for the thermomechanical analysis of small satellites. In the first stage, the heat fluxes acting on the exterior surfaces of the assembly are evaluated with the support of the CubeSat Wizard. The orbital parameters employed ensure adequate radiation heat transfer. Afterwards, the temperature distribution of the entire structure is evaluated with the support of the LISA thermal transient environment. The most critical load case is further use for calculating stress and displacement in a static analysis. Two configurations of CardSat nanosatellites are included in the study for comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]