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The descent phase of GAGANYAAN (Indian Manned Space Mission) culminates with a crew module impacting at a predetermined site in Indian waters. During water impact, huge amount of loads are experienced by the astronauts. This demands an impact attenuation system which can attenuate the impact loads and reduce the acceleration experienced by astronauts to safe levels. Current state of the art impact attenuation systems use honeycomb core, which is passive, expendable, can only be used once (at touchdown impact) during the entire mission and does not account off-nominal impact loads. Active and reusable attenuation systems for crew module is still an unexplored territory. Three configurations of impact attenuators were selected for this study for the current GAGANYAAN crew module configuration, namely, hydraulic damper, hydro-pneumatic damper and airbag systems.

RAMBHA-LP (Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere - Langmuir Probe) is one of the key scientific payloads onboard the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 mission. Its objectives were to estimate the plasma density and its variations on the near lunar surface. The probe was initially kept in a stowed condition attached to the lander. A mechanism was designed and realized to meet the functional requirement of deploying the probe at a distance of 1 meter, equivalent to the Debye length of the probe in the moon’s plasma environment. The probe deployment mechanism consists of the Titanium alloy spherical probe with a Titanium Nitride coating on its surface to achieve a constant work function, a long carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer boom, a double torsion spring, a dust-protection box, and a shape-memory alloy-based Frangibolt actuator for low-shock separation. The entire mechanism weighed less than 1.5 kilograms.

Abstract: The present study discusses about the effect of installation torque on the surface and subsurface deformations for thin walled 7075 aluminum alloy used in Aerospace applications. A FE model was constructed to predict the effect of torque induced stresses on thin walled geometry followed with an experimentation. A detailed surface analysis was performed on 7075 aluminum in terms of superficial discontinuities, residual stresses, and grain deformations. The localized strain hardening resulting from increased dislocation density and its effect on surface microhardness was further studied using EBSD and micro indentation. The predicted surface level plastic strain of .25% was further validated with grain deformations measured using optical and scanning electron microscopy.

Abstract: Hydraulic systems in aircrafts largely comprise of metallic components with high strength to weight ratios which comprise of 2024 Aluminum and Titanium Ti-6AL-4V. The selection of material is based on low and high pressure applications respectively. For aircraft fluid conveyance products, hydraulic conduits are fabricated by axisymmetric turning to support flow conditions. The hydraulic conduits further carries groves within for placement of elastomeric sealing components. This article presents a systematic study carried out on common loads experienced by fluid carrying conduits and the failure modes induced. The critical failure locations on fluid carrying conduits of 2024-T351 Aluminum was identified, and the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis was carried out to identify the characteristic footprints of failure surfaces and crack initiation. Through this analysis, a load to failure mode correlation is established.

Aerospace structural components grapple with the pressing issue of high-cycle fatigue-induced micro-crack initiation, especially in high-performance alloys like Titanium and super alloys. These materials find critical use in aero-engine components, facing a challenging combination of thermo-mechanical loads and vibrations that lead to gradual dislocations and plastic strain accumulation around stress-concentrated areas. The consequential vibration or overload instances can trigger minor cracks from these plastic zones, often expanding unpredictably before detection during subsequent inspections, posing substantial risks. Effectively addressing this challenge demands the capability to anticipate the consequences of operational life and aging on these components. It necessitates assessing the likelihood of crack initiation due to observed in-flight vibration or overload events.

Airframe section of rockets, missiles and launch vehicles are typically cylindrical in shape. The cylindrical shell is subjected to high axial load and an external pressure during its operation. The design of cylinders subjected to such loads is generally found to be critical in buckling. To minimize the weight of cylinders, it is typically stiffened with rings and stringers on the inner diameter to increase the buckling load factor. Conventionally the buckling load estimated by analytical or numerical means is multiplied by an empirical factor generally called Knockdown factor (kdf) to get the critical buckling load. This factor is considered to account for the variation between theory and experiment and is specified by handbooks or codes. In aerospace industry, NASA SP 8007 is commonly followed and it specifies the kdf as a lower bound fit curve for experimental data .

The study of aerodynamic forces in hypersonic environments is important to ensure the safety and proper functioning of aerospace vehicles. These forces vary with the angle of attack (AOA) and there exists an optimum angle of attack where the ratio of the lift to drag force is maximum. In this paper, computational analysis has been performed on a blunt cone model to study the aerodynamic characteristics when hypersonic flow is allowed to pass through the model. The flow has a Mach number of 8.44 and the angle of attack is varied from 0º to 20º. The commercial CFD solver ANSYS FLUENT is used for the computational analysis and the mesh is generated using the ICEM CFD module of ANSYS. Air is selected as the working fluid. The simulation is carried out for a time duration of 1.2 ms where it reaches a steady state and the lift and drag forces and coefficients are estimated. The pressure, temperature, and velocity contours at different angles of attack are also observed.

This specification covers an aluminum alloy in the form of sheet and plate 0.017 to 2.000 inches (0.43 to 50.80 mm), inclusive, in nominal thickness (see 8.6).

This specification covers an aluminum alloy in the form of alclad sheet over 0.039 to 0.126 inches (0.99 to 3.20 mm), inclusive, in nominal thickness with a fine-grain core of ASTM No. 6 or finer (see 8.5).

This specification covers an aluminum alloy in the form of sheet 0.020 to 0.128 inch (0.51 to 3.25 mm), inclusive, in nominal thickness (see 8.5).

This specification covers an aluminum alloy in the form of alclad sheet and plate supplied in the -T861 temper.

This specification covers an aluminum alloy in the form of alclad coiled sheet from 0.010 to 0.128 inch (0.25 to 3.25 mm), inclusive, in thickness supplied in the -T4 temper (see 8.5).

This specification covers an aluminum alloy in the form of extruded rods, bars, and profiles (shapes) 0.040 to 1.500 inches (1.02 to 38.10 mm), inclusive, in thickness, and produced with maximum cross-sectional area of 23.25 square inches (15000 mm2) and a maximum circumscribing circle diameter (circle size) of 15.5 inches (394 mm) (see 2.4.1 and 8.6).

This specification covers an aluminum alloy in the form of plate 1.000 to 6.000 inches (25.40 to 152.40 mm), inclusive, in nominal thickness (see 8.5).

This specification covers a titanium alloy in the form of welding wire (see 8.5).

This specification covers a titanium alloy in the form of bars up through 4.000 inches (101.60 mm) in nominal diameter or least distance between parallel sides, inclusive, forgings of thickness up through 4.000 inches (101.60 mm), inclusive, with bars and forgings having a maximum cross-sectional area of 32 square inches (204.46 cm2), and stock for forging of any size (see 8.6).

This procurement specification covers aircraft-quality solid rivets made from a corrosion resistant nickel-copper alloy of the type identified under the Unified Numbering System as UNS N04400 and of 46 ksi minimum shear strength.