Thermal Model Post Processing

Thermal models continue to grow in size, but one thing remains the same; regardless of the number of nodes, each thermal model is a representation of discrete physical components.  The philosophy behind TARPTM and COVeRTM is to represent these components via Groups, which are defined as the collections of nodes that represent each component.  Five levels of heirarchy are included to represent the assembly of components into subsystems, systems, instruments, and spacecraft.

The most common questions asked of a thermal engineer for a component are:

  1. What are the temperature extremes it may experience on orbit?
  2. How much power does it need to stay within limits?
  3. What are the heat flows into and out of the component?

The basis for TARP and COVeR is to allow for the quick calculation of Average Group Temperatures, Total Group Heat Load, Maximum and Minimum temperatures at the nodal level within a Group, HeatFlows between Groups, and the effective Equivalent Sink Temperatures for Groups during Testing. The ability of TARP and COVeR to interface with numerous commerical software packages allows this approach to be utilized across the industry, regardless of the particular software utilized by a particular organization.