Atkins, C;
Brzozowsk, W;
Dobson, N;
Milanova, M;
Todd, S;
Pearson, D;
Bourgenot, C;
... Nistea, IT; + view all
(2019)
Additively manufactured mirrors for CubeSats.
In:
Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.
SPIE: San Diego, California, United States.
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Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM; 3D printing) is a fabrication process that builds an object layer-upon-layer and promotes the use of structures that would not be possible via subtractive machining. Prototype AM metal mirrors are increasingly being studied in order to exploit the advantage of the broad AM design-space to develop intricate lightweight structures that are more optimised for function than traditional open-back mirror lightweighting. This paper describes a UK Space Agency funded project to design and manufacture a series of lightweighted AM mirrors to fit within a 3 U CubeSat chassis. Five AM mirrors of identical design will be presented: two in aluminium (AlSi10Mg), two in nickel phosphorous (NiP) coated AlSi10Mg, and one in titanium (Ti64). For each material mirror pair, one is hand-polished (including the Ti64) and the other is diamond turned. Metrology data, surface form error and surface roughness, will be presented to compare and contrast the different materials and post-processing methods. To assess the presence of porosity, a frequent concern for AM materials, X-ray computed tomography measurements will be presented to highlight the location and density of pores within the mirror substrate; methods to mitigate the distribution of pores near the optical surface will be described. As a metric for success, the AlSi10Mg + NiP and AlSi10Mg mirrors should be suitable in terms of metrology data for visible and infrared applications respectively.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Additively manufactured mirrors for CubeSats |
| Event: | SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications |
| ISBN-13: | 9781510629257 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1117/12.2528119 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2528119 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Additive manufacturing, 3D printing, mirror fabrication, surface roughness, aluminium, titanium, polishing, diamond-turning |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10085806 |
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