Thermal modeling and experimental verification of the HEPS radiation monitor heat dissipation management

A concept of the passive thermal control of the small radiation monitor (RM) – High Energy Particle Spectrometer (HEPS) - was developed in the Bridge Phase of the ESA planned VIGIL mission. RM was required to dissipate its heat to the outer space while the thermal link with the S/C was designed to be weak. Technical challenges of heat dissipation were addressed and resolved using modelling based on the ANSYS software. To verify fulfilment of this requirement, a realistic thermal model was constructed and verified under representative conditions. Measurements obtained for various operation modes of the instrument validated the finite element calculations and confirmed the thermal model concept.