# A Study of Structural Parameters Effects on Pressure Differential to Roll Titanium Diaphragm for a Spacecraft Propellant Tank

Authors: Tianju Ma; Sendong Gu; Jipeng Zhao; Bin Yu; Jianjun Zhang; Wenbo Yang
Journal: Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
 (2022)

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## Abstract

A range of titanium diaphragms for spacecraft propellant tanks are designed in detail, and two typical titanium diaphragms were manufactured and corresponding reversal tests were developed. A series of finite element models of the reversal process of these titanium diaphragms is developed based on the arc-length method and a finite element analysis software. With the aid of the models, this paper analyzes the characteristics of pressure drop during the whole reversal process and investigates the effects of the structural parameters on pressure differential to roll titanium diaphragm. The results show that simulated values of the critical pressure and the overturning pressure show good agreement with measured ones. In addition, the critical pressure increases with increasing thickness, decreasing bottom diameter and chamfering radius. The thickness and the bottom diameter are the main influence factors for the critical pressure. The overturning pressure increases with increasing thickness and arc radius. These effects of the bottom diameter, the chamfering radius, and arc radius become sharper with increasing thickness.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Diaphragm tanks are one of the most practical positive expulsion devices, which are extensively used in spacecraft propellant systems. The devices are capable to store and manage common liquid propellants, when the station keeping, orbit, and altitude control for spacecrafts are carried out. In most cases, a diaphragm tank mainly consists of four components, including a top hemispherical shell, a diaphragm, a bottom hemispherical shell, and a retaining ring. Its working principle is shown in Figure1. The top and bottom hemispherical shells can suffer a certain internal pressure. The diaphragm separates the internal chamber of the two hemispherical shells into two parts as a barrier, including a gas chamber and a liquid chamber when the tank contains a liquid propellant. The diaphragm will be rolled by pressure differential between the two chambers, and the propellant will be expelled from its storage chamber subsequently.Figure 1
Schematic diagram of a diaphragm tank.The diaphragm is the key component of the tank. In the past, most of them are made from a thin material with better ductility, such as rubber materials, which are flexible enough to couple to the internal surface of the shell and adjust the shape at all fill-levels. Some works [1–6] have been performed on the spacecraft propellant tanks with rubber diaphragms. However, the common propellants like hydrazine, MMH, and N2O4 are not compatible with the rubber materials [7–9]. As of recent, in order to meet the requirement of long-term propellant storage, the focus of research has been on the feasibility of metallic diaphragms, including titanium diaphragms and aluminum diaphragms [10]. Lenahen et al. [11] investigated the liquid slosh behaviors in spacecraft propellant tanks with metal diaphragms by computational and experimental analysis. Conomos et al. [8] and Marvih et al. [12] developed a titanium tank and aluminum diaphragm tanks, respectively, the motions of these diaphragms were also characterized. Instead of conventional rubber diaphragms, the plastic deformation is dominant during the reversal process [8, 13]. As a key parameter for guiding structural design, the pressure differential to roll the metal diaphragm is affected by its structural parameters complexly. Therefore, further studies on the effects are still essential.In this work, a range of titanium diaphragms are designed in detail. The effects of structural parameters on pressures differential to roll these diaphragms are investigated by combining the method of experimental observation, numerical simulation, and theoretical analysis.


## 2. Titanium Diaphragm Structure and Experimental Setup

### 2.1. Titanium Diaphragm Structure

The titanium alloy used in this investigation is TA1ELI, which is a titanium-based alloy. Its chemical composition is given in Table1. As the basic structure of a common titanium diaphragm is shown in Figure 2, the diaphragm is a thin shell structure, where thickness increases from the bottom to the top. A chamfering structure is set up as a flanging section at the bottom of the diaphragm to mount the retaining ring. An arc section is employed to fit the interior shape of the top hemispherical shell. In order to deform steadily at the beginning of reversal process, a cone section is designed between the flanging section and the arc section. The structural parameters for the diaphragm, such as the thickness, T, the bottom diameter, Db, the chamfering radius, Rf, the arc radius, Ra, the height, H, and the angle of cone section, α are significant [14–17], which affect the service properties of the diaphragm, especially the pressure drop. In general, H is limited by the height of tanks and α is defined as a constant to simplify the design. So the effects of key structural parameters, including T, Db, Rf ,and Ra are studied in this work. Two typical titanium diaphragms were designed and manufactured, and key structural parameters are listed in Table 2.Table 1
Chemical composition of TA1ELI (wt (%)).
FeSiCNHO≤0.050.01≤0.100.0030.00080.035Figure 2
Basic structure of a common titanium diaphragm.Table 2
Key structural parameters of two diaphragms.
Serial numberT (mm)Db (mm)Rf (mm)Ra (mm)Flanging sectionCone sectionArc sectionE11.001.001.00–1.50433.45216.0E21.001.001.00–1.50599.46278.7


### 2.2. Diaphragm Reversal Tests

In order to investigate the performance of the titanium diaphragm experimentally, reversal tests were developed. Figure3 illustrates a schematic diagram of the test process. Before test, the gas pipe joint of the tank was connected to a gas pressure controller via a buffer vessel. Then, water was replaced for hydrazine propellant due to similar liquid specifications [18–20] to be filled into the liquid chamber from the liquid pipe joint. Subsequently, a pressure differential transducer was placed and measured the pressure differential between the gas chamber and the liquid chamber. The pressure differential and the corresponding volumetric change of the liquid chamber were measured at a base gas pressure of 0.02 MPa until the final gas pressure of 0.5 MPa was obtained. Figure 4 provides the initial titanium diaphragms and the deformed ones when rolled fully.Figure 3
Schematic diagram of the reversal test process.Figure 4
Initial titanium diaphragm (a) and the deformed ones when rolled fully (b).
(a)(b)


## 2.1. Titanium Diaphragm Structure

The titanium alloy used in this investigation is TA1ELI, which is a titanium-based alloy. Its chemical composition is given in Table1. As the basic structure of a common titanium diaphragm is shown in Figure 2, the diaphragm is a thin shell structure, where thickness increases from the bottom to the top. A chamfering structure is set up as a flanging section at the bottom of the diaphragm to mount the retaining ring. An arc section is employed to fit the interior shape of the top hemispherical shell. In order to deform steadily at the beginning of reversal process, a cone section is designed between the flanging section and the arc section. The structural parameters for the diaphragm, such as the thickness, T, the bottom diameter, Db, the chamfering radius, Rf, the arc radius, Ra, the height, H, and the angle of cone section, α are significant [14–17], which affect the service properties of the diaphragm, especially the pressure drop. In general, H is limited by the height of tanks and α is defined as a constant to simplify the design. So the effects of key structural parameters, including T, Db, Rf ,and Ra are studied in this work. Two typical titanium diaphragms were designed and manufactured, and key structural parameters are listed in Table 2.Table 1
Chemical composition of TA1ELI (wt (%)).
FeSiCNHO≤0.050.01≤0.100.0030.00080.035Figure 2
Basic structure of a common titanium diaphragm.Table 2
Key structural parameters of two diaphragms.
Serial numberT (mm)Db (mm)Rf (mm)Ra (mm)Flanging sectionCone sectionArc sectionE11.001.001.00–1.50433.45216.0E21.001.001.00–1.50599.46278.7


## 2.2. Diaphragm Reversal Tests

In order to investigate the performance of the titanium diaphragm experimentally, reversal tests were developed. Figure3 illustrates a schematic diagram of the test process. Before test, the gas pipe joint of the tank was connected to a gas pressure controller via a buffer vessel. Then, water was replaced for hydrazine propellant due to similar liquid specifications [18–20] to be filled into the liquid chamber from the liquid pipe joint. Subsequently, a pressure differential transducer was placed and measured the pressure differential between the gas chamber and the liquid chamber. The pressure differential and the corresponding volumetric change of the liquid chamber were measured at a base gas pressure of 0.02 MPa until the final gas pressure of 0.5 MPa was obtained. Figure 4 provides the initial titanium diaphragms and the deformed ones when rolled fully.Figure 3
Schematic diagram of the reversal test process.Figure 4
Initial titanium diaphragm (a) and the deformed ones when rolled fully (b).
(a)(b)


## 3. Finite Element Simulation Setup

In order to investigate the effects of the structural parameters on pressure differential, finite element (FE) models of the reversal process of all the designed titanium diaphragms are developed based on the arc-length method and a FE analysis software. This part concentrates on the procedure of simulation development. The validity of the FE models is verified by the above experimental results.


### 3.1. Diaphragm Geometries

Except for the above two designed diaphragms, a range of titanium diaphragms are designed in detail. These diaphragms can be divided into four broad groups based on their interior dimensions as shown in Figure5. The dimensions of the thickness, T and the chamfering radius, Rf for every group are listed in Table 3. It means that there are 12 designed titanium diaphragms for every group.Figure 5
Interior dimensions of titanium diaphragms for every group.Table 3
Dimensions of the thickness, T and the chamfering radius,Rf for every group.
T (mm)Rf (mm)Flanging sectionCone sectionArc section0.400.400.56–0.605, 6, 70.600.600.84–0.905, 6, 70.800.801.12–1.205, 6, 71.001.001.40–1.505, 6, 7


### 3.2. Theoretical Approach

The deformation of metal diaphragms during the reversal process is a complex nonlinear structural response with strain softening, which is characterized by the drop of stress after achieving the peak value. In this case, nonlinear FE analysis is likely to suffer from convergence issues [21, 22]. To overcome this problem, the so-called arc-length method has been proposed and developed by numerous researchers [23, 24] to compute complex equilibrium paths in nonlinear structural mechanics problems.When adapting the FE method for computing numerical solutions, the approximation of the nonlinear structural mechanics problem can be expressed as follows:(1)Ru,λ=Fintu−λFext=0.HereR has been defined as the residual vector, u is the nodal displacement vector, λ is the load factor, Fint(u) and Fext denote the internal force vector and the external force vector, respectively.Generally, equation (1) is solved by means of an incremental approach. So the nodal displacement vector un + 1 and the load factor λn + 1 at the current load step are defined as:(2)un+1=un+Δu,(3)λn+1=λn+Δλ,where Δu and Δλ are the increments of the nodal displacement vector and the load factor at the current step, un and λn represent their respective values at the previously converged load step.After substituting the equations (2) and (3) into equation (1), the residual vector at the current load step can be written as:(4)Run+1,λn+1=Fintun+1−λn+1Fext=0.To solve the under-determined system in equation (4), in the arc-length method, an additional equation, called as the arc-length equation, is proposed, which is given as [25–27]:(5)ΔuTΔu+ψΔλ2FextTFext=Δs2,where s is the arc-length parameter, and Δs is its increment. The different arc-length schemes can be determined by adjusting the scalar parameter, ψ.For a given Δs, (4) and (5)equations are solved by applying the Newton–Raphson scheme.


### 3.3. Finite Element Model

Based on FE software MSC. Marc, the initial FE models of the reversal process of the titanium diaphragms are developed, a representative FE mesh is shown in Figure6. Due to the characteristics of axial symmetry, the preliminary FE mesh with 10240 regular solid shell elements is established. The thickness distributions of the diaphragms are implemented by a user subroutine. Figure 7 presents an example of a thickness model with range of 0.6 mm–0.9 mm and the corresponding FE model. The material properties for these simulations, including Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and density are 100 GPa, 0.34, and 4540 kg/m3, respectively, and its plastic flow stress curve is shown in Figure 8. A face pressure is loaded on the outside surface of the FE mesh using the follower force function. All the nodes on the fillet edge are constrained in all directions.Figure 6
Preliminary FE mesh of the reversal process.Figure 7
A thickness model (a) and the corresponding FE model (b).
(a)(b)Figure 8
Plastic flow stress curve used in the FE model.


## 3.1. Diaphragm Geometries

Except for the above two designed diaphragms, a range of titanium diaphragms are designed in detail. These diaphragms can be divided into four broad groups based on their interior dimensions as shown in Figure5. The dimensions of the thickness, T and the chamfering radius, Rf for every group are listed in Table 3. It means that there are 12 designed titanium diaphragms for every group.Figure 5
Interior dimensions of titanium diaphragms for every group.Table 3
Dimensions of the thickness, T and the chamfering radius,Rf for every group.
T (mm)Rf (mm)Flanging sectionCone sectionArc section0.400.400.56–0.605, 6, 70.600.600.84–0.905, 6, 70.800.801.12–1.205, 6, 71.001.001.40–1.505, 6, 7


## 3.2. Theoretical Approach

The deformation of metal diaphragms during the reversal process is a complex nonlinear structural response with strain softening, which is characterized by the drop of stress after achieving the peak value. In this case, nonlinear FE analysis is likely to suffer from convergence issues [21, 22]. To overcome this problem, the so-called arc-length method has been proposed and developed by numerous researchers [23, 24] to compute complex equilibrium paths in nonlinear structural mechanics problems.When adapting the FE method for computing numerical solutions, the approximation of the nonlinear structural mechanics problem can be expressed as follows:(1)Ru,λ=Fintu−λFext=0.HereR has been defined as the residual vector, u is the nodal displacement vector, λ is the load factor, Fint(u) and Fext denote the internal force vector and the external force vector, respectively.Generally, equation (1) is solved by means of an incremental approach. So the nodal displacement vector un + 1 and the load factor λn + 1 at the current load step are defined as:(2)un+1=un+Δu,(3)λn+1=λn+Δλ,where Δu and Δλ are the increments of the nodal displacement vector and the load factor at the current step, un and λn represent their respective values at the previously converged load step.After substituting the equations (2) and (3) into equation (1), the residual vector at the current load step can be written as:(4)Run+1,λn+1=Fintun+1−λn+1Fext=0.To solve the under-determined system in equation (4), in the arc-length method, an additional equation, called as the arc-length equation, is proposed, which is given as [25–27]:(5)ΔuTΔu+ψΔλ2FextTFext=Δs2,where s is the arc-length parameter, and Δs is its increment. The different arc-length schemes can be determined by adjusting the scalar parameter, ψ.For a given Δs, (4) and (5)equations are solved by applying the Newton–Raphson scheme.


## 3.3. Finite Element Model

Based on FE software MSC. Marc, the initial FE models of the reversal process of the titanium diaphragms are developed, a representative FE mesh is shown in Figure6. Due to the characteristics of axial symmetry, the preliminary FE mesh with 10240 regular solid shell elements is established. The thickness distributions of the diaphragms are implemented by a user subroutine. Figure 7 presents an example of a thickness model with range of 0.6 mm–0.9 mm and the corresponding FE model. The material properties for these simulations, including Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and density are 100 GPa, 0.34, and 4540 kg/m3, respectively, and its plastic flow stress curve is shown in Figure 8. A face pressure is loaded on the outside surface of the FE mesh using the follower force function. All the nodes on the fillet edge are constrained in all directions.Figure 6
Preliminary FE mesh of the reversal process.Figure 7
A thickness model (a) and the corresponding FE model (b).
(a)(b)Figure 8
Plastic flow stress curve used in the FE model.


## 4. Results and Discussion

### 4.1. Pressure Drop Characteristics and Model Verification

The relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement of two diaphragms are illustrated in Figure9. It is clear that each of the curves change abruptly at two points, named critical point, such as A1 and A2, and overturning point, such as B1 and B2. The pressure differential at critical point refers to the critical pressure which begins to derive the deformation of the diaphragm. The one at the overturning point represents the overturning pressure which overturns the diaphragm completely. The simulated values of the critical pressure for the two diaphragms are 0.12 MPa and 0.097 MPa, respectively. The ones of overturning pressure are 0.55 MPa and 0.32 MPa. After the pressure exceeds the critical value, there are a local instable stage (LIS) and a stability stage (SS), and pressure differential changes slowly and apex axial displacement increases rapidly. In addition, the pressure differential displays an increasing tendency with the increase of apex axial displacement. This variation is related to the thickness distribution and the radial size of the diaphragm. The pressure differential gradient increases severely at the beginning of the reversal process because the arc segment of flanging gradually becomes straight.Figure 9
Relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement of the diaphragms. (a) Serial number E1, (b) Serial number E2.
(a)(b)In order to verify the simulated results, the comparisons between the simulated pressure differential data and experimental ones are also performed in these Figures. It is observed that the simulated results well agree with the experimental ones.


### 4.2. Effects of Structural Parameters on Pressure Differential

The relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement under different structural parameters can be obtained from the simulation results. The ones for the first group diaphragms are shown in Figure10(a), and the ones for the diaphragms with the same thickness and chamfering radius but different bottom diameter and arc radius are shown in Figure 10(b). These curves have the same tendency but different local values. The critical pressure and the overturning pressure are observed obviously. It is found that the thickness, T, the bottom diameter, Db, and the chamfering radius, Rf have effects on the critical pressure, and the effects of T and Db are more significant. The overturning pressure is affected by the thickness, T, and the arc radius, Ra obviously.Figure 10
Relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement for the first group diaphragms (a); the diaphragms with same T andRf (b).
(a)(b)In addition, the local instable phenomena become unclear with the decrease of the thickness. The differences of the overturning pressure and the critical pressure (DOPCP) increase with increasing thickness and decreasing arc radius as shown in Figure11. The results indicate that the decrease of thickness leads to reducing the pressure differential, and further is beneficial to reducing the weight of the pressurizing system for titanium diaphragm tanks. However, if the thickness is too small, the structure of the diaphragm will become unstable. A polygon boundary is formed on the deformation position at the beginning of the reversal process, as shown in Figure 12(a). The strain localizations take place at the polygon vertexes, which will result in local cracks under poor pressure differential control.Figure 11
Variation of DOPCP and thickness.Figure 12
Comparisons of the shape and the plastic strain for the fourth group diaphragms. (a) Thickness: 0.4 mm–0.6 mm; (b) Thickness: 1.0 mm–1.5 mm.
(a)(b)The values of the critical pressure and the overturning pressure for every group are collected. The effects of the thickness, T, the bottom diameter,Db, and the chamfering radius, Rf on the critical pressure are shown in Figure 13. The values of the critical pressure range from 0.015 MPa to 0.18 MPa. The equivalent von Mises stress at the deformed regions is larger than those in other regions. The maximum value is 249.5 MPa–266 MPa, which is far larger than the yield strength of TA1ELI. The increase of thickness, decreasing bottom diameter, and chamfering radius increase the deformation resistance of metal. So the critical pressure increases with the increasing thickness, decreasing bottom diameter and chamfering radius, and the thickness and the bottom diameter make the main contributions to the variation. Instead of the curve tendencies in Figure 13(c), nonlinear increases and decreases present in Figures 13(a) and 13(b), and these tendencies become sharper with increasing thickness. The effect of the thickness, T and the arc radius, Ra are shown in Figure 14. The values of the overturning pressure range from 0.07 MPa to 0.73 MPa. The overturning pressure increases with the increasing thickness and arc radius. It is interesting to notice that near-linear relationships between the overturning pressure and the thickness are remarkable. It is easy to predict the critical pressure and the overturning pressure by the above tendencies.Figure 13
Effects of structural parameters on the critical pressure. (a) Thickness effects; (b) Bottom diameter effects; (c) Chamfering radius effects.
(a)(b)(c)Figure 14
Effects of structural parameters on the overturning pressure.


## 4.1. Pressure Drop Characteristics and Model Verification

The relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement of two diaphragms are illustrated in Figure9. It is clear that each of the curves change abruptly at two points, named critical point, such as A1 and A2, and overturning point, such as B1 and B2. The pressure differential at critical point refers to the critical pressure which begins to derive the deformation of the diaphragm. The one at the overturning point represents the overturning pressure which overturns the diaphragm completely. The simulated values of the critical pressure for the two diaphragms are 0.12 MPa and 0.097 MPa, respectively. The ones of overturning pressure are 0.55 MPa and 0.32 MPa. After the pressure exceeds the critical value, there are a local instable stage (LIS) and a stability stage (SS), and pressure differential changes slowly and apex axial displacement increases rapidly. In addition, the pressure differential displays an increasing tendency with the increase of apex axial displacement. This variation is related to the thickness distribution and the radial size of the diaphragm. The pressure differential gradient increases severely at the beginning of the reversal process because the arc segment of flanging gradually becomes straight.Figure 9
Relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement of the diaphragms. (a) Serial number E1, (b) Serial number E2.
(a)(b)In order to verify the simulated results, the comparisons between the simulated pressure differential data and experimental ones are also performed in these Figures. It is observed that the simulated results well agree with the experimental ones.


## 4.2. Effects of Structural Parameters on Pressure Differential

The relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement under different structural parameters can be obtained from the simulation results. The ones for the first group diaphragms are shown in Figure10(a), and the ones for the diaphragms with the same thickness and chamfering radius but different bottom diameter and arc radius are shown in Figure 10(b). These curves have the same tendency but different local values. The critical pressure and the overturning pressure are observed obviously. It is found that the thickness, T, the bottom diameter, Db, and the chamfering radius, Rf have effects on the critical pressure, and the effects of T and Db are more significant. The overturning pressure is affected by the thickness, T, and the arc radius, Ra obviously.Figure 10
Relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement for the first group diaphragms (a); the diaphragms with same T andRf (b).
(a)(b)In addition, the local instable phenomena become unclear with the decrease of the thickness. The differences of the overturning pressure and the critical pressure (DOPCP) increase with increasing thickness and decreasing arc radius as shown in Figure11. The results indicate that the decrease of thickness leads to reducing the pressure differential, and further is beneficial to reducing the weight of the pressurizing system for titanium diaphragm tanks. However, if the thickness is too small, the structure of the diaphragm will become unstable. A polygon boundary is formed on the deformation position at the beginning of the reversal process, as shown in Figure 12(a). The strain localizations take place at the polygon vertexes, which will result in local cracks under poor pressure differential control.Figure 11
Variation of DOPCP and thickness.Figure 12
Comparisons of the shape and the plastic strain for the fourth group diaphragms. (a) Thickness: 0.4 mm–0.6 mm; (b) Thickness: 1.0 mm–1.5 mm.
(a)(b)The values of the critical pressure and the overturning pressure for every group are collected. The effects of the thickness, T, the bottom diameter,Db, and the chamfering radius, Rf on the critical pressure are shown in Figure 13. The values of the critical pressure range from 0.015 MPa to 0.18 MPa. The equivalent von Mises stress at the deformed regions is larger than those in other regions. The maximum value is 249.5 MPa–266 MPa, which is far larger than the yield strength of TA1ELI. The increase of thickness, decreasing bottom diameter, and chamfering radius increase the deformation resistance of metal. So the critical pressure increases with the increasing thickness, decreasing bottom diameter and chamfering radius, and the thickness and the bottom diameter make the main contributions to the variation. Instead of the curve tendencies in Figure 13(c), nonlinear increases and decreases present in Figures 13(a) and 13(b), and these tendencies become sharper with increasing thickness. The effect of the thickness, T and the arc radius, Ra are shown in Figure 14. The values of the overturning pressure range from 0.07 MPa to 0.73 MPa. The overturning pressure increases with the increasing thickness and arc radius. It is interesting to notice that near-linear relationships between the overturning pressure and the thickness are remarkable. It is easy to predict the critical pressure and the overturning pressure by the above tendencies.Figure 13
Effects of structural parameters on the critical pressure. (a) Thickness effects; (b) Bottom diameter effects; (c) Chamfering radius effects.
(a)(b)(c)Figure 14
Effects of structural parameters on the overturning pressure.


## 5. Conclusions

In this work, the effects of structural parameters on pressure differential to roll titanium diaphragms are investigated. The following conclusions have been drawn from the results of this investigation.(1)
The relationships of pressure differential and apex axial displacement of the diaphragms change abruptly at two points, including a critical point and an overturning point. After the pressure exceeds the critical value, there are a local instable stage and a stability stage. Simulated values of the critical pressure and the overturning pressure show good agreement with measured ones.(2)
The local instable phenomena become unclear with the decrease of the thickness. The decrease of thickness is beneficial to reduce the weight of pressurizing system for titanium diaphragm tanks. If the thickness is too small, the strain localizations take place on the deformation position at the beginning of the reversal process, which will result in local cracks under poor pressure differential control.(3)
The critical pressure increases with increasing thickness, decreasing bottom diameter, and chamfering radius. The thickness and the bottom diameter are the main influence factors for the critical pressure. The overturning pressure increases with increasing thickness and arc radius. These effects of the bottom diameter, the chamfering radius, and arc radius become sharper with increasing thickness.



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*Source: 2003905-2022-11-08.xml*