Thermal Calculation Of A Lunar Rover During Its Dormancy In The Night

The thermal analysis and calculation of a lunar rover during its dormancy in the night play an important role in the entire thermal design and analysis of the lunar rover, not only in the rover’s energy supply and the application of the nuclear energy but also in the working efficiency of its on-board equipment as well as their service life.Using the thermal analysis module in ANSYS, the temperatures of the superficial l ayers on the moon were calculated at first, and the results of the lunar surface temperature were consistent with the corresponding measured data. Besides, the temperature distribution of the superficial layers might theoretically support the thermal designs for lunar exploration devices or instruments. Then a comprehensive discussion about the thermo-physical properties of the thermal control materials as well as the related structural materials was spread, and a lunar rover model used for calculation was built later. After that, the heat loss of the lunar rover ’s main part was discussed and two circumstances, that one is that the main part of the lunar rover was completely coated by MLI(Multi-Layer Insulation) and the other is that the main part was just partly coated, were considered. Results show that the heat loss of the lunar rover ’s main part for the first circumstance is very small but is very big for the second circumstance, which reveals that the surface exposed to the external environment plays a main role for the heat loss. In addition, the thermal analysis of the radiating surface mounted on the side of the lunar rover shows that mounting radiating surfaces on the side of the lunar rover should be studied cautiously especially in the district of lower lunar latitudes. At last, the heat loss of the steering knuckle was studied and the results show that setting heat insulation between the inner and out shell of the steering knuckle can reduce the heat loss.Some conclusions could be drawn after taking a comprehensive consideration about the heat loss calculation of the main part and the steering knuckle as that in the lunar night the heat loss could be reduced as the temperature of the lunar rover ’s on-board electronic equipment was set lower, and the temperature variation of the lunar surface has little effect on the lunar rover ’s heat loss.