Design of Inertial Class Gyroscope Resonator with Ultrahigh Quality Factor for Interplanetary Space Missions

Abstract

High Quality factor (Q factor) resonator is a mandatory requirement for very fine resolution Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope (HRG). It is a measure of damping. This paper discusses the role of Thermo Elastic Dynamic Damping (TEDD) when the resonator is operating in its functional vibration mode. Finite Element (FE) method is used to solve the coupled thermal and mechanical equations. A sensitive analysis of the effect of different parameters like resonator material properties, operating temperature, size, geometry, conductive metallic coating materials, multilayer coating, and coating thickness is carried out. The uniqueness of the present work is the sensitivity study of ultrathin coating (volume fraction of 0.01%), multilayer coating, and different partial coating configurations. The coating can reduce Q factor by orders compared to uncoated shell. It is found that the coating material selection and the coating configuration are very important factors and a Q factor of 5.5 × 106 in the final optimum coating configuration is achieved.