 |
 |
 |
|
 |
Aluminum Investment Castings
Investment Castings for the Messenger Spacecraft
Nu-Cast, Inc. uses the latest aluminum investment casting technologies to meet your custom space casting specifications.
Investment Casting of the Integrated Electronics Module
(IEM) chassis for the MESSENGER spacecraft.
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) is a mission to orbit the planet Mercury. The MESSENGER spacecraft was designed and developed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and is the first to orbit the planet Mercury.The Integrated Electonics Modul (IEM), as shown in Figure 1, is the central control unit of the entire spacecraft. It operates the spacecraft, stores data, and autonomously detects and mitigates onboard faults. There are two IEMs onboard the spacecraft for redundancy.
Aluminum investment casting has been selected, instead of the traditional hog-out machined method, and the oven-brazed method, as the fabrication technique for the IEM chassis, to meet the design requirements and to reduce the fabrication cost. The monolithic structure from casting technique is more reliable structurally, and is superior in thermal performance.
We visited NU-CAST during the process of searching a candidate foundry for the chassis fabrication. We were impressed by the casting expertise NU-CAST has demonstrated, its well-established processes, and quality control.NU-CAST has Fabricated the pre-engineering chassis for the MESSENGER IEM, as shown in Figure 2. We have conducted suites of vibration tests with the mock-up PWBs and are satisfied with the performance of the chassis. We are in the process of ordering three (3) flight chassis from NU-CAST. STEREO, another spacecraft also designed and developed by JHU/APL is considering using aluminum investment casting for its IEM fabrication.
Rapid Prototyping | Quick Cast | Engineering Design Services | 3D Truss | Concurrent Engineering / Manufacturing | Quality Control | Tolerance Capabilities | Site Map
© 2008, Nu-Cast, Inc. Investment Castings, All Rights Reserved
New Hampshire (NH) Website Design Development