Development Status of the Thermal Layer of the Dynamic Life Support System Simulation V-HAB

Date

2015-07-12

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Publisher

45th International Conference on Environmental Systems

Abstract

The Virtual Habitat project (V-HAB) at the Technische Universit ̈at Mu ̈nchen (TUM) aims to develop a dynamic simulation environment for life support systems (LSS). The modular structure of the tool allows the combination of different LSS technologies and com- ponents. The environmentally sensitive dynamic model of the human physiology provides the relevant metabolic inputs and outputs based on internal, environmental, and opera- tional factors. It is separated into five sub-models (layers) that represent the metabolism, respiration, thermoregulation, water/salt balance and the digestion of the human. The Thermal Moon Simulator (TherMoS) was initially developed to enable the dynamic ther- mal simulation of rovers or astronauts on the lunar surface in general. To achieve this, a thermal model of the lunar surface is created including three-dimensional features like craters and boulders. In combination with V-HAB, TherMoS provides information about heat transfer between the simulated space suit and its environment. As V-HAB evolves continuously, its broadening scope sets new requirements for the human model. On the one hand, V-HAB is currently being used to both simulate short term (e.g. EVA) and long term (e.g. Lunar Base) scenarios, which introduces the need to have different fidelity levels for the layers to allow either faster simulations or more detailed examinations. Also, greater focus is currently being put on the thermal environment of the human, as related projects exist in our group at TUM. This paper describes some that ongoing work in V-HAB. First, different thermal models are examined and compared to the thermal layer of the V-HAB model. For the Wissler Human Thermal Model, an in-depth analysis of the model is performed and comparison simulations with the V-HAB model are conducted. Second, in cooperation with the Austrian Space Forum (O ̈WF), the V-HAB human was extended to depict thermal relations between the human and the space suit, called Aouda.X, by the O ̈WF.Subsequently,themodelingeffortswerevalidatedagainstdatagatheredbytheO ̈WF at the MARS2013 Analog Mission in Morocco. Third, a thermal solver was introduced into the overall V-HAB infrastructure. Ongoing work aims to implement thermal elements required to depict effects of the human thermoregulation, as it is planned to eventually use that framework for the entire thermal layer of the human model improve its structure and make it more flexible. Finally, an approach is presented to use such an updated thermal layer together with a space suit model and TherMoS to model heat transfer paths from within the human to the Lunar environment.

Description

Bellevue, Washington
Claas Olthoff, Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany
Jonas Schnaitmann, Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany
Florian Bender, Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany
Viktoria Koch, Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany
Jan Weber, Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany
The 45th International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Bellevue, Washington, USA on 12 July 2015 through 16 July 2015.

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