Finned Space Radiator Performance Analysis Using Computational Methods

Satellites are typically subjected to large temperature variations due to its orbit, whereas some satellite's equipment sharp temperature limits must be observed in order not to jeopardize satellite's mission.Designed to operate in passive satellites' thermal control, space radiators can be a valuable asset, rejecting heat generated by electronic components and minimizing absorption of heat from external sources (especially the Sun).The present work presents a numerical methodology for performing the analysis of space radiators, and a comparison between a plane radiator and finned radiator in critical operating conditions is presented.The governing equations have been discretized in a two-dimensional grid using a finite volume scheme and the resulting system was solved using Thomas Algorithm in an iterative process, concatenated in two algorithms.The results obtained show the temperature profiles for both radiators studied and a performance analysis is performed, showing the best geometrical configuration for the finned radiator.