Panel comprising a plurality of corrugated plates corrugated according to two oscillating curves, and spacecraft

Abstract

The invention relates to a panel comprising a plurality of plates, referred to as corrugated plates (2, 4), arranged between two outer planar plates (20, 21) that are parallel with one another, wherein: - each corrugated plate (2, 4) extends along a non-planar surface following a first periodic oscillating curve, in at least a first main direction around a mean surface of the corrugated plate extending substantially parallel to the outer plates (20, 21); - each corrugated plate (2, 4) also extends along a non-planar surface following a second periodic oscillating curve, each corrugated plate (2, 4) having a plurality of peak lines and a plurality of valley lines; and - the corrugated plates (2, 4) are configured such that each peak line of a first corrugated plate is at least in point contact with each valley line of a second corrugated plate.

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION

[0002] TITLE OF THE INVENTION: PANEL COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PLATES CORRUGATED ACCORDING TO TWO OSCILLATING CURVES AND SPACE VEHICLE

[0003] Technical field of the invention

[0004] The invention relates to a panel comprising a plurality of plates corrugated according to two oscillating curves as well as a space vehicle comprising such a panel.

[0005] Technological background

[0006] The significant increase in the number of space debris is an increasingly worrying issue, both from the environmental point of view of this pollution, and from that of the safety of astronauts on the International Space Station and the reliability of the implementation of space equipment.

[0007] Such debris comes in particular from accidental or deliberate destruction of satellites. They are generally classified by size, from micrometric debris to decametric debris. All debris, even millimetric debris, constitutes a potential threat and is likely to cause significant damage given its high speed of movement.

[0008] Document CN107672248 describes, for example, a protective sandwich panel comprising corrugated steel plates, superimposed and welded together and with two lower and upper flat plates. However, the structure and shape of such plates do not allow satisfactory resistance to be achieved.

[0009] CN 113089927 also describes corrugated panels having corrugated curves at regular intervals in the length and width directions, the corrugated curves extending along the length and width of the corrugated panel forming alternately hollows and bumps next to each other. The structure and shape of such panels also do not allow satisfactory strength to be achieved.

[0010] Objectives of the invention

[0011] The invention aims to provide a panel having excellent mechanical properties, in particular excellent resilience.

[0012] The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment, a panel capable of withstanding impacts from millimetric or centimetric objects having speeds of the order of 1 to 60 km / s.

[0013] The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment, a panel which can be used as shielding or as a material suitable for forming at least part of the outer surface of a space vehicle such as a satellite or any other space device.

[0014] The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment, a method for manufacturing such a panel which is easy to implement on an industrial scale.

[0015] Statement of the invention

[0016] To this end, the invention relates to a panel comprising a plurality of plates, called corrugated plates, arranged between two external plates substantially parallel to each other, in which: each corrugated plate extends along a non-planar surface following a first periodic oscillating curve in at least a first main direction around a mean surface of said corrugated plate, said mean surface of each corrugated plate extends substantially parallel to said external plates, said panel being characterized in that: each corrugated plate further extends along a non-planar surface following a second periodic oscillating curve such that any section of said corrugated plate along a surface parallel to said mean surface of said corrugated plate has at least two periodic oscillating curves, called second periodic oscillating curves, extending substantially parallel to each other,each corrugated plate has a plurality of crest lines and a plurality of trough lines, each crest line and each trough line extending along said second oscillating curve in a second main direction or in a direction parallel to said second main direction, said corrugated plates are configured such that each crest line of a first corrugated plate has at least one-point contact with each trough line of a second corrugated plate.,

[0017] Thus, the superposition of corrugated sheets exhibiting oscillations along two distinct oscillating curves, one along the average surface (or the average plane) of each corrugated sheet, and the other outside this average surface (or this average plane), makes it possible to obtain a panel exhibiting exceptional mechanical properties, in particular resistance to impacts by objects exhibiting a speed greater than 1 km per second.

[0018] Such a panel can also be compared to a sandwich panel, the outer plates forming the skins of such a sandwich material and said corrugated plates forming the core thereof.

[0019] An oscillating curve is a curve lying alternately on one side and the other of a mean curve to this oscillating curve. According to certain variants of the invention, the oscillating curves can be sinusoidal or even triangular.

[0020] Each plate or sheet of such a panel therefore presents oscillations with a non-thousand amplitude and period in two directions orthogonal to each other.

[0021] The difference in height between a peak (that of the ridge lines) and a trough (trough lines) represents the amplitude. The distance between two peaks of the same ridge line represents a period (or the wavelength) of said periodic oscillation.

[0022] A panel according to the invention and each corrugated sheet thereof may extend so as to have a generally planar shape or else have a slight curvature, i.e. a non-zero curvature. In the latter case, the average surface of each corrugated sheet is not strictly planar. Any section of said corrugated sheet along a plane orthogonal to said average plane (or to said average surface) of the corrugated sheet and along a plane parallel to said first main direction has the shape of said first periodic oscillating curve.

[0023] Advantageously and according to the invention, said first oscillating curve is sinusoidal.

[0024] Advantageously and according to the invention, each of said second periodic oscillating curves is sinusoidal.

[0025] Advantageously and according to the invention, each ridge line extends over a surface substantially parallel to said average surface of said corrugated plate and each trough line extends over a surface substantially parallel to said average surface of said corrugated plate.

[0026] In the case where each corrugated plate has a substantially flat average surface, advantageously and according to the invention, each crest line extends in a plane substantially parallel to a mean plane of said corrugated plate and each trough line extends in a plane substantially parallel to a mean plane of said corrugated plate.

[0027] Advantageously and according to the invention, each crest line of a first corrugated plate has a linear contact with a trough line of a second corrugated plate.

[0028] Advantageously and according to the invention, said second main direction of said second oscillating curve of each crest line of said first corrugated plate extends substantially orthogonally to said second main direction of said second oscillating curve of each trough line of said second corrugated plate. Such a configuration corresponds for example to a variant of a panel according to the invention in which identical corrugated plates are superimposed by arranging them alternately at 90° to each other.

[0029] Advantageously and according to the invention, said second main direction of the second oscillating curve of each crest line of said first corrugated plate extends substantially parallel to said second main direction of the second oscillating curve of each trough line of said second corrugated plate.

[0030] Thus, in any configuration of superposition of the corrugated plates within a panel according to the invention, the corrugated plates are neither nested nor fitted into one another but arranged relative to one another in such a way that they form channels or passages between each of them, the crest lines of a plate being only in contact with the trough lines of a corrugated plate arranged above it and so on.

[0031] It is possible to leave the spaces left free between each corrugated plate of a panel according to the invention or to fill at least partly these spaces with a filling material such as a cellular material or even a material in the liquid state, capable of having a more or less significant viscosity depending on its nature.

[0032] Advantageously and according to the invention, each corrugated plate is formed from at least one material chosen from the group formed by metals, metal alloys and composite materials.

[0033] The strength provided by the structure of the corrugated sheets of a panel according to the invention is such that it allows the use of sheets whose thickness is particularly low, which contributes to limiting the mass of a panel according to the invention. Advantageously and according to the invention, each corrugated sheet has a thickness of less than 500 μm, in particular less than 100 μm, and in particular a thickness of between 20 μm and 80 μm. Each corrugated sheet has a substantially constant thickness.

[0034] According to a particular embodiment of the invention, said two external plates are flat and parallel to each other.

[0035] The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing such a panel in which said corrugated sheets are arranged in such a way that each ridge line of a first corrugated sheet has at least one-point contact with each trough line of a second corrugated sheet.

[0036] The invention also relates to a space vehicle comprising at least one such panel according to the invention. This may be any object intended to be brought into space, and to orbit around a planet or not. Said space vehicle may therefore be an astronautic launcher, a space station (or orbital station), a satellite, a space shuttle or even a space probe.

[0037] The invention also relates to a panel, a method of manufacturing such a panel and a space vehicle characterized in combination by all or part of the characteristics mentioned above or below.

[0038] List of figures

[0039] Other aims, characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following description given solely for non-limiting purposes and which refers to the appended figures in which:

[0040] - figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a corrugated plate of a panel according to the invention,

[0041] - figure 2 is a schematic sectional view of a panel according to the invention according to said first embodiment,

[0042] - figure 3 is a schematic view showing a crest line and a trough line of two corrugated plates of a panel according to the invention according to said first embodiment,

[0043] - figure 4 is a schematic sectional view of a panel according to the invention according to a second embodiment,

[0044] - figure 5 is a schematic view showing a crest line and a trough line of two corrugated plates of a panel according to the invention according to said second embodiment,

[0045] - Figure 6 is a schematic view showing a crest line and a trough line of two corrugated plates of a panel according to the invention according to a third embodiment.

[0046] Detailed description of an embodiment of the invention

[0047] In the figures, scales and proportions are not strictly respected, for the purposes of illustration and clarity.

[0048] Identical, similar or analogous elements are designated by the same references in all the figures. Figures 1 to 6 illustrate a panel comprising a plurality of corrugated plates 2, 4, 6 arranged between two external plates 20, 21. In particular, in all the embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 to 6, the two external plates 20, 21 are flat and parallel to each other, as are the mean planes of each corrugated plate. However, nothing prevents provision being made for a panel, and thus each external plate 20, 21 and each mean surface of each corrugated plate 2, 4, 6, to have a non-zero general curvature (in particular the plates of the same panel then being substantially concentric with each other and having large radii of curvature).

[0049] Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of a single corrugated plate 2 used within a panel according to the invention. Each corrugated plate 2, 4, 6 extends along a non-planar surface on the one hand, following a first periodic oscillating curve 15 in at least a first main direction 25 around a mean plane of said corrugated plate, and, on the other hand, along a non-planar surface following a second periodic oscillating curve such that any section of said corrugated plate along a plane parallel to the mean plane of said corrugated plate has at least two periodic oscillating curves, called second periodic oscillating curves, extending substantially parallel to each other.In particular, any section of said corrugated plate along a surface parallel to said average surface of said corrugated plate has a plurality of second periodic oscillating curves, depending on the dimensions of the corrugated plate and the period of the first periodic oscillating curve.

[0050] The corrugated plates are arranged so that the mean surface or mean plane (when said mean surface is flat) of each corrugated plate 2, 4, 6 extends substantially parallel to the outer plates 20, 21.

[0051] Each corrugated plate 2, 4, 6 therefore has a plurality of crest lines 11, 12, 13 (figure 1) and a plurality of trough lines 14, 16, 18 (shown respectively in figure 3, figure 5 and figure 6), each crest line and each trough line extending along said second oscillating curve in a second main direction or in a direction parallel thereto. As can be seen in figure 1 between each crest line 11, 12, 13 there is a hollow zone 17.

[0052] In each of the different embodiments of a panel according to the invention, each ridge line 11, 12, 13 of a first corrugated plate 2 has at least one point contact with each trough line 14, 16, 18 of a second corrugated plate 4, 6.

[0053] Said corrugated plates 2, 4, 6 and said external plates 20, 21 are configured such that the mean plane (or the mean surface) of each corrugated plate is parallel to the external plates 20, 21.

[0054] Figures 2 and 3 illustrate a panel according to a first embodiment in which corrugated plates identical to each other are superimposed on each other while being arranged in the same direction (relative to the first oscillating curve and the second oscillating curve). This configuration can be said to be at 0°.

[0055] Figure 2 is a schematic sectional view of a panel comprising corrugated plates such as the corrugated plate 2 shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 shows crest lines 12 and trough lines 14 of two corrugated plates of this panel in linear contact with each other (a crest line 12 of a first corrugated plate in contact with a trough line 14 of a second corrugated plate). This sequence and these contacts are repeated at least as many times as there are corrugated plates within said panel, the corrugated plates not being in contact with an external plate 20, 21 being in contact with two separate corrugated plates, one above and the other below, it being understood that the one in contact with a crest line is designated above, and as below, the one in contact with a trough line.

[0056] Furthermore, in Figure 2, for purposes of illustration and clarity only the corrugated sheets and the external sheets of the panel are shown, however, such a panel may also include side sheets or any other element configured to help hold the corrugated sheets in place within the panel, in particular depending on the type of part or object being manufactured.

[0057] In a second embodiment illustrated in Figure 4 and Figure 5, the corrugated plates are oriented relative to each other in such a way that the crest lines 12 and the trough lines 16 of two neighboring corrugated plates of the panel are orthogonal to each other (or more particularly the first main direction 25 of the first periodic oscillating curve 15 extends orthogonally to the main direction of the second oscillating curve followed by each crest line or trough line). This configuration can be said to be 90°. Nothing also prevents providing a plurality of intermediate configurations between 0° and 180°, in particular a configuration called 45° for example.

[0058] In a third embodiment illustrated in Figure 6, the corrugated plates are oriented relative to each other such that the crest lines 12 and the trough lines 18 of two neighboring corrugated plates of the panel are in phase opposition, the main direction of the second oscillating curve followed by each crest line being coincident with the main direction of the second oscillating curve followed by the trough line. Thus, in this third embodiment each first corrugated plate 2 has several point (but not linear) contacts with each trough line 18 of a second corrugated plate. This configuration can be said to be 180°, every other corrugated plate being configured as if it had undergone a 180° rotation relative to the position of the corrugated plate directly neighboring or adjacent to it.

[0059] In all the variants according to the invention, each crest line extends over a surface substantially parallel to the average surface of the corrugated plate and each trough line extends over a surface substantially parallel to the average surface of the corrugated plate. The crest lines and the trough lines therefore extend over surfaces not parallel to the surfaces along which each first periodic oscillating curve extends.

[0060] Each corrugated plate 2, 4, 6 of a panel according to any one of these embodiments is formed from at least one material chosen from the group formed by metals, metal alloys and composite materials and has a thickness of less than 500 μm, in particular less than 100 μm, and in particular a thickness of between 20 μm and 80 μm.

[0061] The inventor has determined that a panel provided with corrugated plates according to the invention has a resistance to impacts by millimetric or centimetric objects having speeds of the order of 1 to 60 km / s which is quite exceptional.

[0062] Furthermore, nothing prevents the provision that a panel according to the invention and each corrugated plate thereof do not necessarily extend in a plane but may have a slight incurvation or a non-zero curvature.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Panel comprising a plurality of plates, called corrugated plates (2, 4, 6), arranged between two external plates (20, 21) parallel to each other, in which - each corrugated plate (2, 4, 6) extends along a non-planar surface following a first periodic oscillating curve (15) along at least a first main direction (25) around an average surface of said corrugated plate, - said average surface of each corrugated plate (2, 4, 6) extends substantially parallel to said external plates (20, 21), said panel being characterized in that: - each corrugated plate (2, 4, 6) further extends along a non-planar surface following a second periodic oscillating curve such that any section of said corrugated plate along a surface parallel to said average surface of said corrugated plate has at least two periodic oscillating curves, called second periodic oscillating curves, extending substantially parallel to each other, - each corrugated plate (2, 4, 6) has a plurality of crest lines (11, 12, 13) and a plurality of trough lines, each crest line and each trough line extending along said second oscillating curve in a second main direction or in a direction parallel to said second main direction, - said corrugated plates are configured such that each ridge line (11, 12, 13) of a first corrugated plate (2) has at least one-point contact with each trough line (14, 16, 18) of a second corrugated plate (4, 6).

2. Panel according to claim 1, characterized in that said first oscillating curve (15) is sinusoidal.

3. Panel according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that each of said second periodic oscillating curves is sinusoidal.

4. Panel according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that each ridge line (11, 12, 13) extends in a plane substantially parallel to a mean plane of said corrugated plate and each trough line extends in a plane substantially parallel to a mean plane of said corrugated plate.

5. Panel according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that each crest line (11, 12, 13) of a first corrugated plate (2) has a linear contact with a trough line of a second corrugated plate (4, 6).

6. Panel according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said second main direction of said second oscillating curve of each crest line of said first corrugated plate (2) extends substantially orthogonally to said second main direction of said second oscillating curve of each trough line of said second corrugated plate (6).

7. Panel according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said second main direction of the second oscillating curve of each crest line of said first corrugated plate (2) extends substantially parallel to said second main direction of the second oscillating curve of each trough line of said second corrugated plate.

8. Panel according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that each corrugated plate (2, 4, 6) is formed from at least one material chosen from the group formed by metals, metal alloys and composite materials.

9. Panel according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that each corrugated plate (2, 4, 6) has a thickness of less than 500 μm.

10. Panel according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that each corrugated plate (2, 4, 6) has a thickness of between 20 μm and 80 μm.

11. Space vehicle comprising at least one panel according to one of claims 1 to 10.

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