TABLE OF CONTENTS Satellite thermal analysis is concerned with predicting the temperature of a satellite in a known or assumed heating environment. The predictions are made by applying the principle of conservation of energy, generally stated by a second-order partial differential equation with Kelvin temperature T the variable sought as function of position vector r and time t. In standard notation, the thermal energy equation (or conduction equation) is
which is to be solved in view of initial conditions
and boundary (surface) conditions that define the heat exchange at location r i (of unit normal n ri) with surfaces at locations r j; that is,
Some of the T rj may be functions of time and the summations may be replaced by integrals when dealing with continuously varying temperatures and coefficients.
The nomenclature is as follows:
| c | = specific heat (at constant pressure for fluids), J/kg K, i.e., W-s/kg K |
| K ? ij | = general interface conductances from r i to r j, W/m 2 K |
| k | = thermal conductivity (a symmetric tensor) with components k v ? (= k ? v), W/m K |
| q* | = volumetric heat generation, W/m 3 |
| ? | = density, kg/m 3 |
| ? | = heating input from extraneous or environment sources, W/m 2 of receiving surface |
Finding from these equations exact analytical expressions for the temperature is not generally possible due to the nonlinear dependence of some of the K ? ij on...
