The thermal analysis of the hard X-ray telescope (HXT) and the investigation of the deformation of the mirror foil due to temperature change

The thin film technology called "depth-graded multi-layer" is used to manufacture reflector foils, which are inserted in a hard X-ray telescope. When the temperature of the foil changes from the temperature at which the foil was produced; thermal deformation is induced due to difference of linear coefficient of expansion of its constituents. The deformation causes performance of X-ray image formation to deteriorate. Therefore, it is absolutely imperative to estimate the amount of deformation quantitatively and to establish a method of temperature control for the foil under the thermal environment on orbit. We used the hard X-ray telescope, which is part of the currently-projected the ASTRO-H X-ray satellite, as an example for investigation. The effective method of the HXT thermal control was examined with the thermal analytical software, "Thermal Desktop". The deformation of the foil when the temperature was changed by 1 degree C was predicted by a finite element analysis (FEA). The thermal desktop analysis shows that the overall foil temperature in orbit can be close to the temperature at which the foils were produced (similar to 22degree C) by the newly developed thermal control method. The FEM analysis shows that the prediction of the foil deformation due to a temperature change of 1 degree C is about 8 mu m.