Finite Element Screening of Sustainable Solar Panel Frame Materials for an OceanSat-3 Inspired Sun Tracking Satellite Architecture

Abstract

A motor-driven solar-array mechanism can improve an Earth-observation satellite’s ability to maintain a favorable angle between the solar panels and incoming sunlight. However, the supporting frame must remain lightweight, stiff, dimensionally stable, and durable under orbital loading conditions. This study presents a conceptual OceanSat-3-inspired satellite bus equipped with a direct-current motor mechanism coupled to deployable solar-panel frames. The work evaluates fiber-reinforced polymer and MFHB hybrid-composite configurations through a preliminary material-screening study using SolidWorks Simulation. A CAD-to-FEA workflow was developed that included material assignment, bonded contact definition, structural constraints, gravitational and mechanical loading, thermal conditions, meshing, and linear-static analysis. The configurations were assessed using von Mises stress, resultant displacement, equivalent strain, and estimated structural safety. Although the simulations indicate clear differences in structural response, inconsistencies in the material properties, loading conditions, thermal definitions, and mesh settings prevent a direct material ranking or flight-qualification conclusion. The study therefore emphasizes the importance of conducting standardized reruns using verified material data and identical boundary conditions. Further validation should include orthotropic characterization, mesh-convergence analysis, thermal-vacuum cycling, outgassing assessment, atomic-oxygen and ultraviolet exposure, radiation evaluation, and fatigue testing. The proposed workflow provides a foundation for developing and evaluating sustainable solar-array support structures for future Earth-observation satellite applications.

Introduction

This study presents an OceanSat-3-inspired educational spacecraft platform for investigating a motorized solar-array tracking mechanism and evaluating flax-fiber-reinforced polymer (FFRP) and wood-containing hybrid material (MFHB-60/40) as potential solar-panel frame materials. The proposed system uses a DC motor, shaft, and rotary interface to orient solar panels toward the Sun, potentially reducing cosine losses. However, the mechanism also introduces structural, thermal, vibration, backlash, wiring, power-consumption, and reliability challenges.

The research combines CAD modelling, finite-element analysis (FEA), material assessment, and sustainability considerations. The literature indicates that solar-array tracking must be evaluated not only through static strength but also through pointing accuracy, dynamic response, motor torque, vibration, and attitude-control interaction. Similarly, natural-fiber composites may offer environmental benefits, but their suitability for spacecraft depends on anisotropy, moisture sensitivity, processing quality, radiation, atomic oxygen, ultraviolet exposure, vacuum, thermal cycling, and outgassing.

Three supplied SolidWorks simulation reports were reconstructed and compared. The analyses used linear-static FEA with thermal effects, bonded contacts, gravity, fixed supports, and a temperature of 125°C. However, important inconsistencies were identified in the material properties. For example, the reported FFRP modulus and density appear to contain possible unit-entry errors, while the reported MFHB shear modulus is inconsistent with its elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio. The meshes also showed poor quality for comparative publication-grade analysis, with approximately 65–67% of elements having aspect ratios above 10, and no mesh-convergence study was reported.

The reported results show a major difference between the two configurations. The FFRP model had a mass of only 1.194 kg, maximum stress of 0.1012 MPa, displacement of 4.367 mm, and nominal safety factor of 573.1. The MFHB-60/40 configuration reported 15,236.98 kg mass, 38.29 MPa maximum stress, 60.68 mm displacement, and a safety factor of only 1.019. Although these results appear to favor FFRP, the material-input inconsistencies mean that the numerical ranking cannot yet be considered physically reliable.

The study also emphasizes that static von Mises stress alone is insufficient for evaluating composite spacecraft structures. FFRP and MFHB are direction-dependent materials and should instead be modelled using experimentally measured orthotropic properties and appropriate composite failure criteria such as Tsai-Hill, Tsai-Wu, or Hashin. Buckling, modal behaviour, vibration, fatigue, bearing life, thermal cycling, and repeated tracking motions must also be investigated before making service-life claims.

From a sustainability perspective, natural-fiber composites may reduce environmental impacts in some terrestrial applications, but a spacecraft-specific conclusion requires a life-cycle assessment (LCA) considering material production, resin, processing, transport, launch mass, protective coatings, replacement frequency, and end-of-life. Similarly, environmental performance in orbit requires assessment of atomic oxygen, UV radiation, radiation, vacuum, contamination, and thermal cycling.

Conclusion

This study developed a coherent research framework around an OceanSat-3-inspired satellite bus, a motorized solar-array tracking mechanism, and sustainable frame-material screening. The three supplied reports show that the CAD assembly can be meshed and solved under combined gravity, force, constraint, and thermal inputs. Their reported maxima provide a useful starting dataset: 0.1012-38.29 MPa stress, 4.367-60.68 mm displacement, and 1.640-2.157 x 10^-3 equivalent strain. The comparison also reveals that the current simulations are not controlled material experiments. FFRP density and modulus appear to contain unit-scale errors; MFHB density is physically implausible; the MFHB elastic and shear moduli are inconsistent under an isotropic model; the nominal force and thermal selections differ; the mixed configuration is not documented at body level; and mesh convergence is absent. The two MFHB-based configurations have nominal safety factors near unity, while the very high FFRP factor is driven by the entered data and should not be interpreted as a flight margin. Accordingly, the project supports a publishable preliminary conclusion: bio-derived composites are credible candidates for continued investigation, and motorized tracking is a rational architecture for improving solar incidence, but neither structural superiority nor gains in accuracy, energy, life, or carbon footprint have yet been demonstrated. A corrected, identical-condition orthotropic rerun followed by joint/contact characterization, modal and transient-dynamic analysis, buckling assessment, independent structural validation, environmental qualification, fatigue, control, and life-cycle validation is the necessary next stage. This evidence-led framing preserves the originality of the project while making its claims technically defensible.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Nitya Riteshbhai Patel. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.