SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “RIGID BODY”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 307 records · Page 17

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2018

A Higher-Order Space-Time Finite-Element Method for Moving-Body and Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems

We present a high-order finite-element method for moving body and fluid/structure interaction problems. Our solution strategy is based on a space-time discontinuous Galerkin (DG) spectral-element discretization which extends to arbitrary order of accuracy. The space-time DG discretization is a natural choice for moving body and fluid-structure interaction problems as moving surfaces are incorporated simply by considering curved space-time elements whose space-time faces align with the moving body. We present a discontinuous-Galerkin in time discretization for six-degree of motion modeling of rigid bodies, and a continuous-Galerkin discretization for equations of linear elasticity to generate curved space-time meshes. Numerical results for several simple 2D test cases are presented in order to verify the implementation of the different models. Finally we present a preliminary dynamic simulation of a parachute.

High-Order↗

NASA NTRS1975

Earth-moon system: Dynamics and parameter estimation

A theoretical development of the equations of motion governing the earth-moon system is presented. The earth and moon were treated as finite rigid bodies and a mutual potential was utilized. The sun and remaining planets were treated as particles. Relativistic, non-rigid, and dissipative effects were not included. The translational and rotational motion of the earth and moon were derived in a fully coupled set of equations. Euler parameters were used to model the rotational motions. The mathematical model is intended for use with data analysis software to estimate physical parameters of the earth-moon system using primarily LURE type data. Two program listings are included. Program ANEAMO computes the translational/rotational motion of the earth and moon from analytical solutions. Program RIGEM numerically integrates the fully coupled motions as described above.

Breedlove, W. J., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Mars Smart Lander Parachute Simulation Model

A multi-body flight simulation for the Mars Smart Lander has been developed that includes six degree-of-freedom rigid-body models for both the supersonically-deployed and subsonically-deployed parachutes. This simulation is designed to be incorporated into a larger simulation of the entire entry, descent and landing (EDL) sequence. The complete end-to-end simulation will provide attitude history predictions of all bodies throughout the flight as well as loads on each of the connecting lines. Other issues such as recontact with jettisoned elements (heat shield, back shield, parachute mortar covers, etc.), design of parachute and attachment points, and desirable line properties can also be addressed readily using this simulation.

Queen, Eric M.↗

NASA NTRS1971

Ride comfort control in large flexible aircraft

The problem of ameliorating the discomfort of passengers on a large air transport subject to flight disturbances is examined. The longitudinal dynamics of the aircraft, including effects of body flexing, are developed in terms of linear, constant coefficient differential equations in state variables. A cost functional, penalizing the rigid body displacements and flexure accelerations over the surface of the aircraft is formulated as a quadratic form. The resulting control problem, to minimize the cost subject to the state equation constraints, is of a class whose solutions are well known. The feedback gains for the optimal controller are calculated digitally, and the resulting autopilot is simulated on an analog computer and its performance evaluated.

Warren, M. E.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Aeromechanical stability of helicopters with a bearingless main rotor. Part 1: Equations of motion

Equations of motion for a coupled rotor-body system were derived for the purpose of studying air and ground resonance characteristics of helicopters that have bearingless main rotors. For the fuselage, only four rigid body degrees of freedom are considered; longitudinal and lateral translations, pitch, and roll. The rotor is assumed to consist of three or more rigid blades. Each blade is joined to the hub by means of a flexible beam segment (flexbeam or strap). Pitch change is accomplished by twisting the flexbeam with the pitch-control system, the characteristics of which are variable. Thus, the analysis is capable of implicitly treating aeroelastic couplings generated by the flexbeam elastic deflections, the pitch-control system, and the angular offsets of the blade and flexbeam. The linearized equations are written in the nonrotating system retaining only the cyclic rotor modes; thus, they comprise a system of homogeneous ordinary differential equations with constant coefficients. All contributions to the linearized perturbation equations from inertia, gravity, quasi-steady aerodynamics, and the flexbeam equilibrium deflections are retained exactly.

Hodges, D. H.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Equations of motion for coupled n-body systems

Computer program, developed to analyze spacecraft attitude dynamics, can be applied to large class of problems involving objects that can be simplified into component parts. Systems of coupled rigid bodies, point masses, symmetric wheels, and elastically flexible bodies can be analyzed. Program derives complete set of non-linear equations of motion in vectordyadic format. Numerical solutions may be printed out. Program is in FORTRAN IV for batch execution and has been implemented on IBM 360.

Frisch, H. P.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Multibody Modeling and Simulation for the Mars Phoenix Lander Entry, Descent and Landing

A multi-body flight simulation for the Phoenix Mars Lander has been developed that includes high fidelity six degree-of-freedom rigid-body models for the parachute and lander system. The simulation provides attitude and rate history predictions of all bodies throughout the flight, as well as loads on each of the connecting lines. In so doing, a realistic behavior of the descending parachute/lander system dynamics can be simulated that allows assessment of the Phoenix descent performance and identification of potential sensitivities for landing. This simulation provides a complete end-to-end capability of modeling the entire entry, descent, and landing sequence for the mission. Time histories of the parachute and lander aerodynamic angles are presented. The response of the lander system to various wind models and wind shears is shown to be acceptable. Monte Carlo simulation results are also presented.

Queen, Eric M.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Modal analysis of gear housing and mounts

Dynamic finite element analysis of a real gear housing is presented. The analysis was conducted for the housing without the rotating components (gears, shafts, and bearings). Both rigid and flexible mounting conditions for the gear housing are considered in this analysis. The flexible support simulates the realistic mounting condition on a rotorcraft, and the rigid one is analyzed for comparison purposes. The effect of gear housing stiffeners is also evaluated. The results indicate that the first six natural modes of the flexibly mounted gear housing in the 0 to 200 Hz range correspond to the translational and rotational rigid body vibration modes of the housing. Above this range, the housing plate elastic modes begin to occur. In the case of the rigid mount, only the housing plate elastic modes are observed which are verified by modal analysis experiments. Parametric studies show that the housing plate stiffeners and rigid mounts tend to increase most of the natural frequencies, the lower ones being affected the most.

Lim, Teik C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Modal analysis of gear housing and mounts

Lim, Teik C.↗

NASA NTRS2011

A Quasi-Steady Flexible Launch Vehicle Stability Analysis Using Steady CFD with Unsteady Aerodynamic Enhancement

Launch vehicles frequently experience a reduced stability margin through the transonic Mach number range. This reduced stability margin is caused by an undamping of the aerodynamics in one of the lower frequency flexible or rigid body modes. Analysis of the behavior of a flexible vehicle is routinely performed with quasi-steady aerodynamic lineloads derived from steady rigid computational fluid dynamics (CFD). However, a quasi-steady aeroelastic stability analysis can be unconservative at the critical Mach numbers where experiment or unsteady computational aeroelastic (CAE) analysis show a reduced or even negative aerodynamic damping. This paper will present a method of enhancing the quasi-steady aeroelastic stability analysis of a launch vehicle with unsteady aerodynamics. The enhanced formulation uses unsteady CFD to compute the response of selected lower frequency modes. The response is contained in a time history of the vehicle lineloads. A proper orthogonal decomposition of the unsteady aerodynamic lineload response is used to reduce the scale of data volume and system identification is used to derive the aerodynamic stiffness, damping and mass matrices. The results of the enhanced quasi-static aeroelastic stability analysis are compared with the damping and frequency computed from unsteady CAE analysis and from a quasi-steady analysis. The results show that incorporating unsteady aerodynamics in this way brings the enhanced quasi-steady aeroelastic stability analysis into close agreement with the unsteady CAE analysis.

Bartels, Robert E.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Flexible Launch Vehicle Stability Analysis Using Steady and Unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics

Launch vehicles frequently experience a reduced stability margin through the transonic Mach number range. This reduced stability margin can be caused by the aerodynamic undamping one of the lower-frequency flexible or rigid body modes. Analysis of the behavior of a flexible vehicle is routinely performed with quasi-steady aerodynamic line loads derived from steady rigid aerodynamics. However, a quasi-steady aeroelastic stability analysis can be unconservative at the critical Mach numbers, where experiment or unsteady computational aeroelastic analysis show a reduced or even negative aerodynamic damping.Amethod of enhancing the quasi-steady aeroelastic stability analysis of a launch vehicle with unsteady aerodynamics is developed that uses unsteady computational fluid dynamics to compute the response of selected lower-frequency modes. The response is contained in a time history of the vehicle line loads. A proper orthogonal decomposition of the unsteady aerodynamic line-load response is used to reduce the scale of data volume and system identification is used to derive the aerodynamic stiffness, damping, and mass matrices. The results are compared with the damping and frequency computed from unsteady computational aeroelasticity and from a quasi-steady analysis. The results show that incorporating unsteady aerodynamics in this way brings the enhanced quasi-steady aeroelastic stability analysis into close agreement with the unsteady computational aeroelastic results.

Bartels, Robert E.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Flexible body dynamic stability for high performance aircraft

Dynamic equations which include the effects of unsteady aerodynamic forces and a flexible body structure were developed for a free flying high performance fighter aircraft. The linear and angular deformations are assumed to be small in the body reference frame, allowing the equations to be linearized in the deformation variables. Equations for total body dynamics and flexible body dynamics are formulated using the hybrid coordinate method and integrated in a state space format. A detailed finite element model of a generic high performance fighter aircraft is used to generate the mass and stiffness matrices. Unsteady aerodynamics are represented by a rational function approximation of the doublet lattice matrices. The equations simplify for the case of constant angular rate of the body reference frame, allowing the effect of roll rate to be studied by computing the eigenvalues of the system. It is found that the rigid body modes of the aircraft are greatly affected by introducing a constant roll rate, while the effect on the flexible modes is minimal for this configuration.

Goforth, E. A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Laboratory evaluation of two advanced suspension devices for ground vibration testing of large space structures

In order to provide the advanced suspension technology needed to allow ground test measurement of free-body modal parameters, two advanced suspension devices, one passive, the other active, are evaluated on the basis of laboratory testing of each device type with rigid and flexible payloads. Rigid-body tests show the basic behavior of the devices when they are uncoupled from a test article near their bandwidth. Flexible body tests show how suspension device dynamics couple with the dynamics of a representative large space structure. For the flexible body testing, targets for the free-body modal parameters are developed from test-verified analysis of the representative structure suspended in an orientation which is only mildly sensitive to suspension constraints.

Cooley, Victor M.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Three-dimensional unstructured method for flows past bodies in 6-DOF relative motion

A three dimensional, unstructured-mesh methodology was developed to simulate unsteady flows past bodies in relative motion, where the trajectory was determined from the instantaneous aerodynamics. The method coupled the equations of fluid flow and those of rigid-body dynamics, and captured the time-dependent interference between stationary and moving boundaries. The unsteady, compressible Euler equations were solved on dynamic, unstructured meshes by an explicit, finite-volume, upwind method. The grid adaptation was performed within a window placed around the moving body. The Euler equations of dynamics were solved by a Runge-Kutta integration scheme. The flow solver and the adaptation scheme were validated by simulating the transonic, unsteady flow around a wing undergoing a forced, periodic pitching motion, then comparing the results with the experimental data. To validate the trajectory code, the six-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) motion of a store separating from a wing was computed using the experimentally determined force and moment fields, then comparing with an independently generated trajectory. Finally, the overall methodology was demonstrated by simulating the unsteady flowfield and the trajectory of a store dropped from a wing. The methodology, its computational cost notwithstanding, has proven to be accurate, automated, easy for dynamic gridding, and relatively efficient for the required man-hours.

Singh, K. P.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Multi-Body Analysis of a Tiltrotor Configuration

The paper describes the aeroelastic analysis of a tiltrotor configuration. The 1/5 scale wind tunnel semispan model of the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft is considered. The analysis is performed by means of a multi-body code, based on an original formulation. The differential equilibrium problem is stated in terms of first order differential equations. The equilibrium equations of every rigid body are written, together with the definitions of the momenta. The bodies are connected by kinematic constraints, applied in form of Lagrangian multipliers. Deformable components are mainly modelled by means of beam elements, based on an original finite volume formulation. Multi-disciplinar problems can be solved by adding user-defined differential equations. In the presented analysis the equations related to the control of the swash-plate of the model are considered. Advantages of a multi-body aeroelastic code over existing comprehensive rotorcraft codes include the exact modelling of the kinematics of the hub, the detailed modelling of the flexibility of critical hub components, and the possibility to simulate steady flight conditions as well as wind-up and maneuvers. The simulations described in the paper include: 1) the analysis of the aeroelastic stability, with particular regard to the proprotor/pylon instability that is peculiar to tiltrotors, 2) the determination of the dynamic behavior of the system and of the loads due to typical maneuvers, with particular regard to the conversion from helicopter to airplane mode, and 3) the stress evaluation in critical components, such as the pitch links and the conversion downstop spring.

Ghiringhelli, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Approximating a finite element model of a hybrid deployable truss by a discrete mass model

The NASTRAN finite element model of the MSFC/hybrid deployable truss is approximated by a model consisting of four bodies serially connected by a spring hinge suspension. The truss is decomposed into four serially connected modules determining the total mass and rotational inertias for a rigid body with its mass center on the axis of the truss for each module. A five-body cantilever truss model is developed along with an undamped form of this model. Spring coefficient values are generated to match eigenvalues of the latter model with those of the NASTRAN model. Damping coefficients are then determined that provide n percent of critical damping for the model.

Chichester, F. D.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Control design challenges of large space systems and spacecraft control laboratory experiment (SCOLE)

The quick suppression of the structural vibrations excited by bang-bang (BB) type time-optional slew maneuvers via modal-dashpot design of velocity output feedback control was investigated. Simulation studies were conducted, and modal dashpots were designed for the SCOLE flexible body dynamics. A two-stage approach was proposed for rapid slewing and precision pointing/retargeting of large, flexible space systems: (1) slew the whole system like a rigid body in a minimum time under specified limits on the control moments and forces, and (2) damp out the excited structural vibrations afterwards. This approach was found promising. High-power modal/dashpots can suppress very large vibrations, and can add a desirable amount of active damping to modeled modes. Unmodeled modes can also receive some concomitant active damping, as a benefit of spillover. Results also show that not all BB type rapid pointing maneuvers will excite large structural vibrations. When properly selected small forces (e.g., vernier thrusters) are used to complete the specified slew maneuver in the shortest time, even BB-type maneuvers will excite only small vibrations (e.g., 0.3 ft peak deflection for a 130 ft beam).

Lin, Jiguan Gene↗

NASA NTRS1990

Shaft flexibility effects on the forced response of a bladed-disk assembly

A model analysis approach is used to study the forced response of an actual flexible bladed-disk-shaft system. Both in-plane and out-of-plane flexible deformations of the bladed-disk assembly are considered, in addition to its rigid-body translations and rotations, resulting from the bending of the supporting flexible shaft in two orthogonal planes. The effects of Coriolis forces and structural coupling between flexible and rigid disk motions on the system's response are investigated. Aerodynamic loads acting on the rotating and vibrating bladed-disk assembly are accounted for through a simple quasi-steady representation, to evaluate their influence, combined with shaft flexibility and Coriolis effects.

Khader, N.↗