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Design and Testing of Advanced Space Suit Hybrid Upper Torso

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Design and Testing of Advanced Space Suit Hybrid Upper Torso 45th International Conference on Environmental Systems ICES-2015-205 12-16 July 2015, Bellevue, Washington Design and Testing of Advanced Space Suit Hybrid Upper Torso Greg Muller 1, and David Graziosi 2 ILC Dover, Houston, Texas 77058 As future missions dictate better mobility, material enhancements, and new technologies, suit design must be iterated to stay ahead of the curve. Over the span of several enhancement projects focused on improving the form, fit, and function of the upper torso design, ILC Dover has investigated state of the art technologies, explored new manufacturing techniques and built prototypes for the purpose of testing these new concepts. Building upon the heritage of the legacy EMU upper torso the hybrid upper torso is a combination of the adaptability of a Soft Upper Torso (SUT) and the rigidity of a Hard Upper Torso (HUT). The hybrid takes the soft restraint and bladder system from a SUT and attaches a hard metal support structure to make the neck, scye, rear door frame, and BSC position rigid using a light weight frame. On the EMU space suit the difference between a medium and large hard upper torso is a one inch difference in scye breadth. The design, tooling, and manufacturing costs required for delivering multiple sized hard upper torsos is eliminated with the hybrid upper torso. The hybrid upper torso does not require a fixed scye location but instead has detachable sizing panels that allow the scye bearing placement to be manipulated, this allows for what would be multiple sizes of hard upper torso to be built into a single hybrid upper torso. This concept could even allow for custom panels to be made for individuals that may need a non-standard scye angle, or a mission specific scye angle. These enhancements improve the sizing capability and can reduce the potential for a shoulder injury due to a poor fit in the suit. Because the Hybrid upper torso is designed to meet a 8.3psid operational pressure the hybrid upper torso is extensible to LEO or planetary missions. This paper will describe several technology advancements ILC is developing to improve space suit upper torso design. Nomenclature AM = Additive Manufacturing BSC = Body Seal Closure CSSS = Constellation Space Suit System DCM = Display and Control Module DTO = Detailed Test Objective DMLS = Direct Metal Laser Sintering EBM = Electron Beam Melting EMU = Extravehicular Mobility Unit ESOC = EVA Space Operations Contract EVA = Extravehicular Activity FAR = Fabric Attachment Ring FEA = Finite Element Analysis FDM = Fused Deposition Modeling FOS = Factor of Safety GFE = Government Furnished Equipment HIP = Hot Isostatic Pressing HUT = Hard Upper Torso HyUT = Hybrid Upper Torso 1 Design Engineer, Advanced Suit Product Group, 2200 Space Park Dr. Ste 110, Houston, TX 77058 2 Chief Engineer, Advanced Suit Product Group, 2200 Space Park Dr. Ste 110, Houston, TX 77058, AIAA Member JSC = Johnson Space Center LEO = Low Earth Orbit LTA = Lower Torso Assembly MSFC = Marshall Space Flight Center NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration NRA = NASA Research Announcement Nd:YAG = Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet PLSS = Portable Life Support System PSID = Pounds per Square Inch Differential PXS = Prototype Exploration Suit QD = Quick Disconnect ROM = Range of Motion RV = Relief Valve SAFER = Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue SSA = Space Suit Assembly SUT = Soft Upper Torso SLM = Selective Laser Melting I. Introduction HE hybrid upper torso is the advancement in space suit technology that has been needed for many years. A suit T that fits a person well is essential for being able to effectively perform tasks and is equally critical for helping reduce the risk of injuring a crew member. The aging architecture of the EMU and a mission that is yet to be decided, NASA needs an EVA space suit that can replace the capabilities of the EMU on ISS, but can also be used in future missions when an objective is chosen. Because of the versatility it has, the hybrid upper torso has the potential to be in that suit. For the new platform a resizable upper torso is needed to accomplish fitting the 5 th % female to 95 th % male percentile crew population with as few upper torso assemblies as possible. The hybrid upper torso would provide future astronauts with a more comfortable upper torso system, fitting a broader population with fewer sizes and improvement to mobility. Figure 1. Hybrid Upper Torso 2 International Conference on Environmental Systems 12” Figure 2. Sizing of Nastic Cell SUT. II. Design ILC Dover Inc. has developed several sizable SUT systems over the years including the Nastic SUT. In 2004 ILC was awarded a three-year NRA grant for the development of innovative spacesuit pressure garment technology that will enable safer, more reliable, and effective human exploration of the space frontier. The research focused on the development of a high performance mobility/sizing actuation system for a spacesuit SUT pressure garment. This technology has application in two areas the first was repositioning the scye bearings to improve specific joint motion i.e. hammering, hand over hand translation, etc., and the second as a suit sizing mechanism to allow easier suit entry and more accurate suit fit with fewer torso sizes than the existing EMU. Research from 2004-2007 was divided into three phases. In phases 1 and 2 SUT actuation technologies were developed and evaluated. This research involved developing a method of predicting and achieving sizing of a SUT to meet these applications. This included a system requirement study, actuation study, electronic textile control study, waist-entry and rear-entry SUT modeling and sizing analysis. In the final phase, a field of previously selected actuation methods was narrowed to one active, pneumatically driven system (Nastic), and one passive, cable driven system. These systems were developed into fully functioning prototypes which were outfitted to a table top SUT mock-up which was later integrated into a full suit and tested. Both of these systems were shown to be successful in positioning the SUT shoulder joint interface angles in a designated location and holding there until task completion. The Nastic SUT is shown in Figure 2. The control mechanisms used for both the active and passive system was also modeled and developed. The final phase was concluded by collecting video of a manned demonstration of two of the sizing systems in operation. 1 These were successful prototypes but used high pressure air to pneumatically actuate upper torso sizing. A. REI Hybrid In 2012 ILC began efforts to design a sizeable upper torso assembly that didn’t require the power actuated sizing of high pressure air. Instead the design would use metal inserts to control the scye placement. ILC’s first design prototype was made on the Rear Entry I-Suit platform in 2013. The REI Hybrid prototype served two purposes the first was to develop a way of attaching the sizing inserts that would provide the adaptability desired for the scye bearing placement. The second objective was an examination of if and how the components could physically be assembled. In SUT assembly there is a specific order that the hardware must be assembled for access to screw heads for installation and torquing. When adding the hybrid brackets to the mix it was unclear if it would just make assembly more difficult or if it would be possible at all. The REI Hybrid was made of FDM polycarbonate it was non- pressurisable but showed both that the SUT could be assembled and the attachment methods showed promise. Figure 3. REI Platform Hybrid Mockup. 3 International Conference on Environmental Systems B. Z-1 Hybrid In the second half of 2013 ILC investigated manufacturing the Hybrid components for a pressurizable prototype using several types of rapid prototyping. Using the Z-1 soft upper torso as the platform for the study ILC developed a hybrid system model. The Z-1 suit has design heritage in the REI suit. The Z-1 has multiple interface locations similar to REI that allowed ILC’s hybrid system to be retro-fit onto the suit. ILC looked at AM as a means of manufacturing components for this hybrid system. AM was appealing because of the potential geometric freedoms, coupled with its small lot size production efficiency. It was believed AM provided a potential opportunity to effectively produce custom components, and therefore enhance the quality of fit for each suit subject. The perceived benefit of additively manufacturing is having the capability of growing the inserts quicker and cheaper than traditional machining. Being able to manufacture complex shapes with reduced touch labor made AM worth investigating. ILC explored two AM technology solutions for fabricating components for the Hybrid Upper Torso. Figure 5. EBM Sizing Panels. • Electron Beam Melting (EBM): A direct-metal AM process, this technology uses an electron beam energy source to selectively melt Ti6Al4 powder in a layer wise fashion. • Selective Laser Melting (SLM): A direct-metal AM process, this technology uses an Nd:YAG laser to selectively melt Ti6Al4 powder in a layer wise fashion. The two AM processes were traded against 5-axis machining. During ILC’s study of the AM options advice was sought from NASA MSFC’s manufacturing technology experts. MSFC is in the preliminary stages of developing a document called “Engineering and Quality Guidelines for Parts Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting.” 3 Though yet unpublished the document outlines how parts manufactured with AM need to be tested based on criticality. ILC used the MSFC document to guide the sample testing specifically for the critical sizing inserts in this design. The first AM process that was looked at was SLM commercially called DMLS. ILC elected to manufacture only one component in SLM due to the cost and available Figure 4.
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