Vacuum Chamber Design and Analysis of the Space Station High Temperature Material Science Experimental System

The Chinese Space Station High Temperature Material Science Experiment System is capable of conducting microgravity high temperature heating experiments of multiple materials types in orbit. The vacuum chamber, one of the key components, is a pressure vessel that can be sealed. It is equipped with interfaces for the experiment inserts such as mechanical, vacuum, nitrogen, exhaust gas emission, power supply, control and cooling. In this paper, the structure design and analysis of the vacuum chamber is based on the technical indicators such as pressure-bearing range and leakage rate. The vacuum chamber adopts a sectional structure, which consists of a square vacuum chamber assembly, a sealed door assembly, a circular vacuum chamber assembly, a mounting bracket, etc. Seals are used at the connection positions. The strength, stiffness and random vibration response of the vacuum chamber structure were checked through pressure analysis, modal analysis, random response analysis and mechanical vibration test. The results verified the safety and reliability of the vacuum chamber design, which can meet the launch and in-orbit operational requirements.