INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT STUDY
Lightweight instrument bracket
Compare mass, access and measured stiffness while protecting instrument mounting interfaces.
Project updates & results
Proposed study
This is a proposed internal development study. Verified parts and results are not yet available.
The brief defines what the study will investigate and measure.
The proposed brief
Support a representative instrument mass within a fixed envelope while reducing bracket mass and preserving attachment interfaces, deflection limits and useful access. Define loads and boundary conditions before optimising.
Design, iteration & manufacture
Baseline bracket; a small set of parameterised or topology-informed variants; polymer models for access only; representative metal manufacture through an appropriate machined, fabricated or metal-additive route. Keep a conventional alternative in the comparison so process selection has a commercial basis.
What the study will measure
As-built mass, interface inspection, static displacement, assembly access and natural frequencies from an appropriate test. Compare analysis with measurement and state boundary conditions. A metal bench test does not establish launch, thermal-vacuum or flight qualification.
Applications for customers
Space instrumentation, aerospace and motorsport packaging. ESA has published a satellite sensor-bracket demonstrator that illustrates this type of mass-reduction application. DPM should publish only its own measured outcomes. ESA bracket example