Issues on LARES Satellite Material
- Paper number
IAC-09.C2.4.5
- Author
Prof. Antonio Paolozzi, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy
- Coauthor
Prof. Ignazio Ciufolini, Università del Salento, Italy
- Coauthor
Prof. Ferdinando Felli, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy
- Coauthor
Mr. Andrea Brotzu, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy
- Coauthor
Mrs. Daniela Pilone, Italy
- Coauthor
Mr. Cristian Vendittozzi, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy
- Year
2009
- Abstract
LARES satellite body will be the first orbiting object made entirely of tungsten alloy. The choice of this high density material causes a very small surface-to-mass ratio for the satellite. This characteristics make surface perturbations small and the experiment more accurate. Due to the peculiarity of the material used for the satellite, the main properties of the alloy have to be verified against the characteristics declared by the producer. The surfaces of the two spheres to be used for manufacturing the demonstration model of LARES and the flight model of LARES will be analysed with the aim of understanding the homogeneity of the bulk material. Mechanical tests will be carried on employing small size specimens taken from the two appendices of the two tungsten alloy spheres. The alloy has been prepared by the manufacturer using liquid sintering technique. Since the producer could not guarantee control on the metallic phase distribution we will perform an accurate metallographic analysis on specific specimen of the alloy. The micro-structure will be characterized with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the phases will be analysed with Energy Dispersion Spettroscopy (EDS). Micro-hardness analysis on the several phases will be also performed. Particular interest will be devoted to the micrographic analysis of the tungsten alloy screws of the cube corner reflector mounting system.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-09.C2.4.5.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.