Automatic Welding, 2025, №01

2025 №01 (07)

DOI of Article 10.37434/as2025.01.08

2025 №01 (01)

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"Avtomatychne Zvaryuvannya" (Automatic Welding), #1, 2024, pp. 50-55

Workplace of a cosmonaut-welder for welding of objects on the surface of the Moon

N.V. Piskun¹, O.R. Bulatsev¹, V.A. Kryukov¹, Zeng Ruchuan², Ye.H. Ternovy¹

¹E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine 11 Kazymyr Malevych Str., 03150, Kyiv, Ukraine. E-mail: nadamova54@gmail.com
²Beijing Spacecrafts No.104, Youyi Road, Haidian District, Beijing, P.R.C., China. Е-mail: ruchuan163@163.com

When man explores the Moon, not only the creation of specialized electron beam welding equipment, but also of auxiliary equipment, which is the workplace (WP) of a cosmonaut-welder, is very relevant. The paper describes the working project for the manufacture of the cosmonaut-welder workplace. The workplace of a cosmonaut-welder presented in the work is adapted for performing electron beam welding with the hand tool in the Earth orbit and on the surface of the Moon. Development of the WP took into account the peculiarities of the surface of the Moon and, first of all, the reduced gravity compared to the Earth, low temperature, and the presence and effect of lunar dust (regolith). It is shown that the main technical characteristics of the cosmonaut-welder WP are as follows: transport dimensions, weight characteristics, service area, selection of the chassis design of the mobile WP, as well as the specific selection of the electric drive and its power source (autonomous, solar battery, battery or onboard network of the space station). The object of research and calculations was a typical design of a lunar module of the DB «Yuzhnoje» enterprise. The proposed workplace of the cosmonaut-welder is made in the form of a folded «cradle». In the transport position, it should take up a minimal space and have a minimal weight. Several variants of the cosmonaut-welder workplace are proposed and considered according to the following parameters: dimensions in the transport position, number of moving elements from the point of view of the influence of lunar dust – regoliths, the weight of the structure, convenience and ease of transfer from the transport position to the working position. Calculations of the weight of the cosmonaut-welder workplace required for performing the work on the surface of the Moon have been carried out. The measures that ensure reliable operation of the cosmonaut-welder workplace in open space and on the surface of the Moon are given. 7 Ref., табл. 1 Tabl., 5 Fig.
Keywords: workplace, cosmonaut-welder, electron beam welding, spacecraft engineering


Received: 27.09.2024
Received in revised form: 30.10.2024
Accepted: 07.01.2025

References

1. Paton, B.E. (2023) Prospects for the application of welding in Space. Avtomatychne Zvaryuvannya, 3, 1-15 [in Ukrainian].
2. https://thinkorbital.com/news/launch-of-first-welding-system/
3. Paton, B.E., Gavrish, S.S., Shulim, V.F. et al. (2000) Manual electron beam technological work in space. In: Space: Technologies, Materials Science, Structures. Ed. by B.E. Paton, Kyiv, PWI, 191-215 [in Russian].
4. Degtyarev, A.V., Lobanov, L.M., Kushnaryov, A.P. et al. (2020) On possibilities for development of the common- sense concept of habitats beyond the Earth. Acta Astronautica, 170, 487-498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.02.014
5. Paton, B.E. et al. (1999) Device for manual electron beam processing of materials in Space. United States, Pat. № 5,869,801.
6. Hlushak, S.O. (2023) Evolution of electron beam hardware for welding in Space. The Paton Welding J., 8, 78-84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37434/tpwj2023.08.11
7. Paton, B.E., Bulatsev, O.R., Perepechenko, B.I. et al. (2000) Device of the work station for conducting experiments in Space. Patent on invention 95020653, Publ. 15.09.2000

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