Research on vacuum leakage jet flow and acoustic field characteristics of spacecraft in orbit

Abstract With an increasing amount of space debris accumulating in Earth’s orbit, spacecraft face a growing risk of debris-induced damage that may lead to leakage incidents. Acoustic methods demonstrate the potential for detecting and localizing spacecraft leaks in orbit. This study employs computational fluid dynamics to model spacecraft leakage scenarios, systematically investigating the jet flow characteristics generated by leakage holes with varying diameters, geometries, and spatial locations. Acoustic data under different experimental conditions are acquired via a vacuum leakage sound field testing system and analyzed in combination with the flow field characteristics obtained from the simulation. The results demonstrate that under one atmospheric pressure differential, leakage jets in atmospheric environments remain subsonic, whereas vacuum leakage jets achieve supersonic velocities. In the acoustic field distribution cloud map, there exists a quiet zone with a relatively lower signal amplitude. The obstruction has a significant impact on the amplitude of the vacuum leakage signal. Therefore, the angle of the leakage detection device needs to be adjusted to minimize the effect of the obstruction. The simulation and experimental results obtained in this study provide theoretical foundations and empirical data to support external leakage detection for on-orbit spacecraft, which directly guide the optimal deployment of detection devices. The results also provide technical support for improving the efficiency of leakage signal processing and advancing research on high-precision leakage localization algorithms.