Silicon carbide main structure for EUCLID NISP instrument in final development

In the scope of EUCLID spatial mission, NISP instrument requires high positioning accuracy and high dimensional stability to achieve the required optical performances. LAM is in charge of the development of the instrument main structure which is based on silicon carbide material technology and allows the accurate positioning and maintain of the optomechanical concept sub-systems. This article presents the main steps of this development. It describes the challenging design of this mechanical concept. The associated finite element model, demonstrating the thermomechanical strength of the structure, is presented. Spatial environment vibrations tests performed on the hardware are explained and detailed: requirements, instrumentation and test methodology with the introduction of notching. Finally, the correlation study between finite element analyses and tests is exposed.