Proton Irradiation Effects on Thermophysical Properties of High-Thermal-Conductivity Graphite Sheet for Spacecraft Application

This paper describes an evaluation of the proton irradiation effects on the thermal characteristics of a pyrolytic graphite sheet (PGS), which has characteristics of high thermal conductivity, light weight, and flexibility, in order to apply this material to an advanced spacecraft thermal control device, the reversible thermal panel (RTP). The results show slight changes in the inplane thermal diffusivity and total hemispherical emittance of the PGS for 2.0MeV proton irradiation. An RTP prototype model based on the PGS was designed and fabricated, and its thermal performance was evaluated. The effects of changes in thermal characteristics of the PGS on the thermal performance of the RTP were also discussed.