CSEM develops innovative component for satellites and CERN
Neuchâtel - CSEM and partners like French Thales Alenia Space have created a 3D-printed part to monitor and regulate heat and cold in satellites, at CERN as well as in the field of medicine and industry. For this, additive manufacturing was used to produce a pipe segment with wires, sensors, and a power connection.
(CONNECT) The Centre Suisse d’électronique et de microtéchnique (CSEM) has developed a 3D-printed technology module with its partners within the context of the AHEAD project supported by the EU, with a press release attesting to its “ingenuity.” This part, a pipe segment, can monitor and regulate temperatures in satellite applications, for example. A special feature of this piece is that wires, sensors, and an electrical connection are already integrated into it. The scientific instruments business area at CSEM has been leading the international innovation project AHEAD.
The first application extends to a mechanically pumped loop (MPL) developed by Thales Alenia Space for telecommunications satellites. These can be fitted with an MPL to prevent the equipment on board from overheating in the sun or freezing when in shadow. CSEM developed this pipe segment for the MPL together with two companies from France, Lisi Aerospace Additive Manufacturing and Thales Alenia Space.
Hervé Saudan, Group leader Precision Mechanisms at CSEM and coordinator of AHEAD, explained: “Thanks to design for additive manufacturing, we implemented built-in wires to heat the segment. Through the wires’ arrangement, we achieve optimum heat transfer all around the tube.” In contrast, he added that conventional film heaters only heat a limited area.
The second use case is CERN in Geneva. There, the pipe segment was integrated into a cooling system for particle detectors. The CSEM’s innovation enables measured data to be recorded at strategic sites for the latest CO2-based cooling systems such as these, contributing to performance improvements.
The CSEM consortium now also plans to implement its creation in terrestrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 applications requiring highly integrated heating, cooling, or in-situ measurement. Intended fields are the machinery industry, medicine, life sciences, the food industry, and the chemicals sector. ce/mm