ARC Student Lead: Benjamin Weimer Student Team Members: Evan Cordoba, Aidan Hermens, Luke Hurst, William Prater, Benjamin Weimer Faculty: Dr. Ambady Suresh, Dr. Matthew Haslam, Professor Andy Gerrick ARC Thermal Systems is engineering a next generation spacecraft radiator array, implementing modern developments in materials science and manufacturing, to serve the developing range of demanding performance requirements for future spacecraft. Future spacecraft, such as a SpaceX Starship outfitted for interplanetary travel, will require megawatts of power to serve onboard systems needs and electric propulsion units. Carrying the proposed 100 people and associated cargo between Earth and the red planet demands it. Needing to solve a specific, well-defined problem, we selected the NASA JIMO spacecraft as a case study in high-power spacecraft within which we can build out a design for a modern radiator array at the 100kW+ scale). Quality research regarding the development and optimization of this integral piece of thermal hardware unlocks spacecraft power level scaling beyond anything offered on the market today and therefore opens up untouched mission profiles like exoplanetary mining, space tourism, and much more. Our top-level requirements are: • Reject heat from a closed-loop fluid NaK system. • Mass of less than 864 kg (current NASA JIMO Spacecraft radiator array mass). • NaK fluid loop: m ̇ =1.28 kg/s ; T_in=556K; T_out=399K • Prevent single-point system failure (redundancy). The primary focus of the group will be on reducing the nominal weight of a proposed radiator array for a specified power level class. The methods used to do so will apply broadly to support future designs of the kind of craft mentioned above. BEAR Student Lead: Joseph Lucchese Student Team Members: Jamie Black, Benjamin Freeman, Natalie Lang, Joseph Lucchese, Gracie Miller, Omar Monreal, Anise Romo Faculty: Professor Gary Cosentino and Dr. Shannon Lodoen Foil bearings enable oil-free, high-speed operation in turbomachinery and are critical for next-generation, fuel-efficient turbine engines. Their air-film lubrication allows operation in high-temperature environments where conventional bearings fail. However, foil bearing reliability is limited by multiple wear mechanisms, many of which are not fully understood. In particular, wear caused by sediment ingestion accelerates coating degradation and shortens operational lifespan. Limited experimental data on this process hinders accurate life-prediction modeling, which slows the incorporation of these bearings into broader aerospace applications. Bearing Endurance and Analysis Rig (BEAR) focuses on the design and construction of a foil bearing test rig capable of simulating a turbine engine environment at representative conditions. The rig will facilitate investigation into how particulate ingestion influences coating wear. Integrated instrumentation and environmental controls will enable precise measurement of: operating conditions, particulate delivery, and wear progression over time. This project lays the groundwork for systematic investigation of foil bearing degradation. The resulting data will support the development of predictive foil bearing life models, guide improvements in materials and coatings technologies, and ultimately contribute to the advancement of reliable, high-performance turbomachinery systems.
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SENIOR CAPSTONE PROJECTS
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