Reduced Thermal Modeling and Material Property Database for CubeSat Thermal Analysis
D. Patadia (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
I. Uriol Balbin – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
S. Speretta – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
M.S. Uludag – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
P.P. Sundaramoorthy – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
Y. Tang – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
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Abstract
Thermal analysis of CubeSats during early design stages is often limited by lack of time, resources and reliable material property data, which leads to large uncertainties in predicted temperatures and potential thermal risks. Additionally, the use of high-fidelity tools makes iterative analysis difficult, especially for small satellite teams.
To address this, this work develops an integrated approach that combines experimental determination of thermo-optical and thermal properties with reduced-order thermal modeling. A database of material properties for commonly used CubeSat components is generated through laboratory testing. Further, simplified thermal models are created and validated against experimental results to capture the dominant heat transfer behavior with reduced complexity.
The combined framework allows faster and more reliable preliminary thermal analysis, helping identify thermal issues early in the design process and improving overall confidence in thermal design.