A parallel buffer bearing system applied to a spacecraft

Abstract

The application discloses a parallel type buffer bearing system applied to a spacecraft, which comprises a bearing frame structure and a parallel buffer unit. Unlike a seat buffer system of a traditional buffer rod mechanism, the parallel buffer bearing system absorbs impact kinetic energy by compression plastic deformation of the buffer unit, and through a buffer unit design method provided by the application, omnidirectional buffer of multiple direction landing impacts can be realized, and meanwhile, support and fixation of astronauts and their seats in normal launching and using environments can be realized, so that the installation space and the structure weight are greatly reduced. The application can be widely applied to impact collision energy absorption in aviation, automobiles, ships and the like, so as to effectively protect life safety.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a parallel buffer bearing system applied to a spacecraft, which plays a buffering role in the impact environment of a "hard landing" of a spacecraft. Background Art

[0002] For manned spacecraft, ensuring the safety of astronauts is the primary design factor. One of the factors that threaten the safety of astronauts on manned spacecraft is the vibration load during launch and the impact load during return landing. Regarding the vibration load during launch, the impact of launch vibration on astronauts is generally reduced by firmly attaching the astronauts and seats to the main structure of the spacecraft and increasing the natural frequency of the load-bearing structure. During the landing process of the spacecraft, if the spacecraft's deceleration parachute, airbags or reverse thrust rockets fail to work properly, causing the cabin to directly hit the ground at a high speed, causing excessive impact loads on the astronauts and threatening the astronauts' lives. This is called a "hard landing." Therefore, manned spacecraft all use astronaut seat buffers to absorb the impact loads during faulty landings.

[0003] Conventional manned spacecraft seat cushions typically utilize piston-type energy absorption mechanisms, such as a cushioning device for landing spacecraft instruments, equipment, or personnel (Patent No. ZL201610329702.3). During landing, the cushioning piston rod is compressed. During this compression, energy-absorbing elements within the rod absorb the impact energy. This method has been successfully implemented on the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft and my country's Shenzhou spacecraft. However, this piston-type energy absorption mechanism has the following problems: 1) It can only absorb energy in a unidirectional manner, along the direction of the piston rod's movement. Therefore, it can generally only absorb impacts caused by the landing gravity of the spacecraft and cannot absorb impacts caused by the spacecraft's horizontal motion. 2) The energy absorption requires a long piston stroke, which results in a large installation space for the energy absorption mechanism, encroaching on space for personnel and other equipment within the spacecraft. 3) The piston-type energy absorption mechanism is not conducive to securing the astronaut to the seat, requiring additional connecting structures and clamping mechanisms to withstand the vibration loads of the astronaut and seat during launch. 4) Each seat system requires a separate piston-type energy absorption mechanism, which is inefficient when multiple astronauts are on board. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In response to the problems of supporting multiple astronauts and absorbing impact energy upon return during the launch of a manned spacecraft, the present invention proposes a parallel buffer support system for use in spacecraft. The system is based on a novel lightweight lattice structure and provides support and fixation for astronauts and seat systems under normal circumstances, such as spacecraft launch and re-entry into the atmosphere, without causing significant deformation. In the case of a "hard landing" of the spacecraft, it provides a buffer and energy absorption function to ensure that astronaut overload is within a reasonable range, thereby protecting the lives of astronauts.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0006] A parallel buffer bearing system for use in spacecraft comprises an upper seat mounting platform and a bottom buffer unit; a plurality of the bottom buffer units are arranged in parallel and tilted and evenly distributed below the seat mounting platform; the buffer units adopt a 3D-printed lattice structure, the seat mounting platform is prepared by welding, connecting plates with bolt holes are provided on the buffer units and the seat mounting platform, and the buffer units and the seat mounting platform are connected via the connecting plates.

[0007] Furthermore, the buffer unit adopts a lightweight lattice structure.

[0008] Furthermore, the seat installation platform adopts an integral frame structure, on which multiple seats are centrally arranged.

[0009] Furthermore, the buffer unit at the bottom is processed using a 3D metal printing method.

[0010] Furthermore, by changing the number of buffer units and the tilt angle, the buffer energy absorption requirements of different seat installation platform weights and impact speeds can be adapted.

[0011] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0012] 1. Unlike the one-way energy absorption method of traditional piston-type buffer mechanisms, the present invention adopts a tilted parallel layout of multiple buffer units, which has a certain energy absorption capacity in all directions. Therefore, the structure has a buffering energy absorption capacity in multiple directions and can simultaneously absorb the impact in the gravity direction and horizontal direction of the spacecraft landing.

[0013] 2. The lattice energy absorption buffer lattice structure adopted by the present invention has the characteristics of high energy absorption. Compared with the traditional pull rod buffer structure, it occupies a smaller space volume, thereby reducing the installation space in the spacecraft.

[0014] 3. The present invention utilizes the designability of the stiffness and strength of the buffer unit, which can not only provide the load-bearing function for the installation platform and the astronauts and seats on the platform when the spacecraft is working normally, but also can buffer and absorb energy under the "hard landing" condition of the spacecraft, thereby protecting the lives of astronauts.

[0015] 4. The present invention adopts a method of gathering multiple astronauts together on the installation platform for installation, and then installing the installation platform in the spacecraft cabin through multiple buffer units in parallel, which improves the load-bearing and energy absorption efficiency when there are multiple astronauts. Compared with the traditional method of independently installing seat buffers, it has higher utilization efficiency and smaller weight advantages in the new generation of manned spacecraft missions that can accommodate more astronauts in the future. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the basic structure of the seat load-bearing and buffering system of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of the buffer unit of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the aerospace seat installation platform of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the connection plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only intended to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, the technical features involved in the various embodiments of the present invention described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown, the parallel buffer bearing system applied to spacecraft of the present invention is composed of a seat mounting platform 1 on top and a buffer unit 2 on the bottom. The seat mounting platform 1 is used to install astronaut seats on the top, and multiple buffer units 2 are installed in a parallel layout below the seat mounting platform 1. The seat mounting platform 1 is designed according to the installation position of the seat and the installation position of the buffer unit. The main frame is welded with an I-beam, and further processed and designed according to the seat installation point and the buffer platform installation point. The material is aluminum alloy or titanium alloy. The buffer unit 2 at the bottom adopts a stainless steel lattice structure and is prepared by 3D printing technology. Its size meets the load requirements and space limitations.

[0022] The buffer unit 2 is a lattice structure made using 3D printing technology. It has sufficient rigidity and strength under normal circumstances such as spacecraft launch and re-entry into the atmosphere, so as to connect and fix the seat mounting platform 1 in the spacecraft cabin, and provide load-bearing function for the seat mounting platform 1 and the astronauts and seats thereon when the spacecraft is operating normally. Under the "hard landing" condition of the spacecraft, when the impact load exceeds the limit load of the lattice structure's crushing deformation, the lattice structure crushes and plastically deforms to absorb the impact kinetic energy of the astronauts and seats on the platform, playing a role in buffering and absorbing energy during the "hard landing" of the spacecraft, and protecting the lives of the astronauts. The cell structure of the lattice structure is composed of hollow rod elements between the corner points and the center point of the body-centered cube, which are connected by nodes. The diameter and wall thickness of the hollow rod elements can be designed along the axis of the rod element. The lattice cell is as follows: Figure 3 The energy-absorbing structure is a bending-dominated type. The lattice structure can be obtained by replicating a certain number of lattice cells along three directions of space according to actual work needs.

[0023] First, based on the astronauts' overload requirements and installation requirements and limitations, the load of the seat mounting platform 1 during the buffering process and the number of buffer units 2 to be configured are determined. Then, based on the energy relationship, the required buffering stroke of the buffer unit 2 is determined, and the height dimension of the buffer unit 2 in the buffering direction is determined using the compression rate of the buffer unit 2. To avoid overall buckling failure of the buffer unit during operation, the overall slenderness ratio of the buffer unit is designed to be 3:2, as shown in the following example: Figure 2 As shown, multiple buffer units 2 are arranged in parallel at an angle. Each buffer unit 2 has a certain energy absorption capacity in all directions, thus providing multi-directional energy absorption. Six buffer units 2 are installed on a mounting plate on the seat mounting platform, with an angle of 30° relative to the vertical plane of the seat platform. This can meet the load-bearing and energy absorption requirements of various astronaut configurations under different landing conditions.

[0024] The average crushing stress is calculated using the load of the seat mounting platform 1 and the transverse dimensions of the buffer unit 2, and the dimensional parameters of its representative cells are determined, such as Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the side length L of the cell is 50mm, the maximum outer diameter D1 of the rod section is 8mm, the minimum outer diameter D2 is 4mm, the thickness t is 0.5mm, and the local coefficient of necking α is 0.8. After determining the size of the representative cell, the number of representative cells expanded in each direction can be determined according to the overall size of the buffer unit 2 to form the middle part of the final buffer unit 2, as shown in the figure. Figure 3 shown.

[0025] The design of the seat mounting platform 1 requires careful consideration of load size, location, and connection location with the bottom buffer unit 2. While meeting strength and rigidity requirements, a hollow design can be employed to reduce weight. The seat mounting platform 1 in the embodiment provided herein is a simple beam model with an I-shaped cross-section.

[0026] The buffer unit 2 is made by 3D printing technology, while the seat mounting platform 1 is made by general welding technology, so the connection between the two needs to be handled. In order to facilitate the replacement and disassembly of the buffer unit 2 after use, bolt connection is adopted here. Therefore, a connecting plate with bolt holes is designed on the buffer unit 2 and the seat mounting platform 1, such as Figure 4 In order to further reduce the weight of the entire seat load-bearing buffer system, the upper and lower connecting plates printed together with the buffer unit 2 are designed with holes to reduce the introduction of unnecessary weight.

[0027] It will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A parallel buffer bearing system for a spacecraft, characterized by: The seat mounting platform comprises an upper seat mounting platform and a bottom buffer unit; a plurality of the bottom buffer units are arranged in parallel and tilted and uniformly distributed below the seat mounting platform; the buffer units adopt a 3D-printed lattice structure, and the seat mounting platform is prepared by welding. The buffer units and the seat mounting platform are provided with a connecting plate with bolt holes, and the buffer units and the seat mounting platform are connected by the connecting plate; The cell structure of the lattice structure is composed of hollow rod elements connected by nodes between the corner points and the center point of the body-centered cube. The diameter and wall thickness of the hollow rod elements can be designed along the axis of the rod elements. The lattice cell is a bending-dominated energy absorption structure. The lattice structure is obtained by replicating a certain number of lattice cells along the three directions of space according to actual work needs.

2. The parallel buffer bearing system for a spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: The buffer unit adopts a lightweight lattice structure.

3. The parallel buffer bearing system for a spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: The seat installation platform adopts an integral frame structure, on which a plurality of seats are centrally arranged.

4. A parallel buffer bearing system for a spacecraft according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The buffer unit at the bottom is processed using 3D metal printing.

5. A parallel buffer bearing system for a spacecraft according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: By changing the number of buffer units and the tilt angle, the buffer energy absorption requirements of different seat installation platform weights and impact speeds can be adapted.

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