Abstract:
During the exploration of spaceflight missions, vacuum sensors directly undertake pivotal tasks including pressure monitoring of the space vacuum environment, vacuum degree regulation inside the vacuum cabin, and vacuum state feedback for propellant delivery. Their performance stability and measurement accuracy directly determine the effectiveness of mission execution and the operational safety of spacecraft. It is necessary to accurately obtain the measurement characteristic parameters of vacuum sensors in space-simulated vacuum environments and verify their performance stability and environmental adaptability under extreme vacuum conditions. Systematic errors and random errors should be eliminated through standardized calibration methods, so as to ensure the accuracy, consistency and traceability of the sensor measurement data. This provides authoritative data support and technical guarantee for the R&D optimization, type selection and adaptation of sensors, as well as their reliable application in spaceflight missions. This paper introduces the design and implementation of a novel integrated composite vacuum calibration device, as well as systematic testing and analysis of its performance. Composed of multiple vacuum calibration chambers, flow conductance components, piping systems, gas supply systems, and vacuum generation systems, the device can cover a wide pressure range of 1×10
−8 Pa to 1×10
5 Pa. Adopting a modular design, the device employs three calibration methods—static comparison method, dynamic comparison method, and dynamic flow method—to meet the calibration requirements of various vacuum gauges according to the characteristics of different pressure ranges. During testing, multiple types of vacuum gauges were used for calibration, and the results demonstrated that the device achieved high precision levels with expanded uncertainties across all pressure ranges. The accuracy and consistency at several key points were verified via transfer comparison methods, demonstrating the device's excellent versatility and stability. The research findings provide an efficient and high-precision solution for wide-range vacuum measurement technology and enable batch calibration capabilities. The successful development of this device fills some gaps in existing vacuum calibration technologies regrding wide-range and high-precision applications, offering significant technical support for related research and industrial applications.