Simulation of radiation environment and design of multilayer radiation shield for orbital exploration of Jupiter

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Simulation of radiation environment and design of multilayer radiation shield for orbital exploration of Jupiter

Su, Jing / Wei, Zhiyong / Liu, Gang / Xu, Jun / Fei, Tao / Zhou, Bo / Li, Yujing / Pan, Yangyang / Gao, Dongdong / Han, Hexiang

Abstract

Abstract The harsh radiation environment of Jupiter imposes significant constraints on the shield design of spacecraft. Due to these constraints, traditional aluminum shields cannot meet the radiation shielding requirements needed for the exploration of Jupiter. In this paper, the design for a highly efficient radiation shield structure is proposed that utilizes a combination of high-Z/low-Z elements. A typical exploration orbit of Jupiter is selected, and the energetic particle radiation environment is calculated using the D&G83 model. The Geant4 toolkit is used to evaluate the shielding performance of materials, and quantitative simulations are performed to analyze the shielding efficiency of bilayer and trilayer shield structures under an areal density constraint of 4.5 g/cm². Based on the simulations, an optimal shield structure is determined. The simulation results show that the integral electron flux with energy greater than 3 MeV is approximately three orders of magnitude greater than that of geostationary orbit with an orbit of 4000 km at the perijove and 5420000 km at the apojove, resulting in an enormous total dose effect. The optimal shield structure is a bilayer structure that comprises of a tantalum outer layer with a density of 3.5 g/cm² and a polyethylene inner layer with a density of 1.0 g/cm². This shield has the ability to reduce the total radiation dose to 1559 Gy per year, which is 32 % lower than that of traditional aluminum shields. Findings in this research are critical for design of radiation shields, and can be used for performing reliability analyses and predicting the lifespan of spacecraft during the development process.

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Document information

Title :

Simulation of radiation environment and design of multilayer radiation shield for orbital exploration of Jupiter

Contributors:

Su, Jing (author) / Wei, Zhiyong (author) / Liu, Gang (author) / Xu, Jun (author) / Fei, Tao (author) / Zhou, Bo (author) / Li, Yujing (author) / Pan, Yangyang (author) / Gao, Dongdong (author) / Han, Hexiang (author)

Published in:

Advances in Space Research ; 73 , 5 ; 2652-2662

Publication date :

2023-12-03

Size :

11 pages

ISSN :

0273-1177

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2023.12.006

Type of media :

Article (Journal)