The harsh environment of Venus poses a significant challenge for the design of lightweight surface probes. The authors investigated isogrid-stiffened spherical shells produced by additive manufacturing. A Ti-6Al-4V, 1.12-m-diam lightweight structural shell capable of surviving a Venus surface environment was designed and assessed via analytical methods and finite element modeling. Subscale components (200 mm diameter) were designed, analyzed, and fabricated using laser powder bed fusion and tested under hydrostatic external pressure at ambient temperatures for model validation. A subscale sphere was successfully tested under Venus-like pressures and temperatures at a hot isostatic press facility. It was found that additively manufactured isogrid shells could lead to significant mass, cost, and schedule savings, freeing resources for increased science return from future missions.

金星的恶劣环境对轻型表面探头的设计提出了重大挑战。作者研究了通过增材制造生产的等斜度加筋球壳。设计了Ti-6Al-4V，1.12-m直径的轻质结构壳，该壳能够在金星表面环境中生存，并通过分析方法和有限元建模进行了评估。使用激光粉末床熔合技术设计，分析和制造次标尺部件（直径200毫米），并在环境温度下在静水压力下进行测试以验证模型。在热等静压设备上成功地在金星般的压力和温度下测试了一个小规模的球体。已经发现，增材制造的异卵石壳可以导致大量的质量，成本和进度的节省，