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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.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Integrated structure-control optimization of space structures

In the past few years there has been substantial interest in the integrated design of large space structures and their vibration control systems. This paper overviews two aspects of integrated control-structure design. The first is the calculation of derivatives of control system stability margins with respect to structural parameters, and the effect of modal truncation on the accuracy of these derivatives. The second aspect is the various formulations used to define an integrated design optimization problem.

Haftka, Raphael T.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A telerobotic system for automated assembly of large space structures

Future space missions such as polar platforms and antennas are anticipated to require large truss structures as their primary support system. During the past several years considerable research has been conducted to develop hardware and construction techniques suitable for astronaut assembly of truss structures in space. A research program has recently been initiated to develop the technology and to demonstrate the potential for automated in-space assembly of large erectable structures. The initial effort will be focussed on automated assembly of a tetrahedral truss composed of 2-meter members. The facility is designed as a ground based system to permit evaluation of assembly concepts and was not designed for space qualification. The system is intended to be used as a tool from which more sophisticated procedures and operations can be developed. The facility description includes a truss structure, motionbases and a robot arm equipped with an end effector. Other considerations and requirements of the structural assembly describe computer control systems to monitor and control the operations of the assembly facility.

Rhodes, Marvin D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A telerobotic system for automated assembly of large space structures

Future space missions such as polar platforms and antennas are anticipated to require large truss structures as their primary support system. During the past several years considerable research has been conducted to develop hardware and construction techniques suitable for astronaut assembly of truss structures in space. A research program has recently been initiated to develop the technology and to demonstrate the potential for automated in-space assembly of large erectable structures. The initial effort will be focused on automated assembly of a tetrahedral truss composed of 2-meter members. The facility is designed as a ground based system to permit evaluation of assembly concepts and was not designed for space qualification. The system is intended to be used as a tool from which more sophisticated procedures and operations can be developed. The facility description includes a truss structure, motionbases and a robot arm equipped with an end effector. Other considerations and requirements of the structural assembly describe computer control systems to monitor and control the operations of the assembly facility.

Rhodes, Marvin D.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Technology Challenges and Opportunities for Very Large In-Space Structural Systems

Space solar power satellites and other large space systems will require creative and innovative concepts in order to achieve economically viable designs. The mass and volume constraints of current and planned launch vehicles necessitate highly efficient structural systems be developed. In addition, modularity and in-space deployment/construction will be enabling design attributes. While current space systems allocate nearly 20 percent of the mass to the primary structure, the very large space systems of the future must overcome subsystem mass allocations by achieving a level of functional integration not yet realized. A proposed building block approach with two phases is presented to achieve near-term solar power satellite risk reduction with accompanying long-term technology advances. This paper reviews the current challenges of launching and building very large space systems from a structures and materials perspective utilizing recent experience. Promising technology advances anticipated in the coming decades in modularity, material systems, structural concepts, and in-space operations are presented. It is shown that, together, the current challenges and future advances in very large in-space structural systems may provide the technology pull/push necessary to make solar power satellite systems more technically and economically feasible.

Belvin, W. Keith↗
NASA NTRS1991

Large space structures and systems in the space station era: A bibliography with indexes (supplement 03)

Bibliographies and abstracts are listed for 1221 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between January 1, 1991 and June 30, 1991. Topics covered include large space structures and systems, space stations, extravehicular activity, thermal environments and control, tethering, spacecraft power supplies, structural concepts and control systems, electronics, advanced materials, propulsion, policies and international cooperation, vibration and dynamic controls, robotics and remote operations, data and communication systems, electric power generation, space commercialization, orbital transfer, and human factors engineering.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1986

Computer-aided design and distributed system technology development for large space structures

Proposed large space structures have many characteristics that make them difficult to analyze and control. They are highly flexible, with components mathematically modeled by partial differential equations or very large systems of ordinary differential equations. They have many resonant frequencies, typically low and closely spaced. Natural damping may be low and/or improperly modeled. Coupled with stringent operational requirements of orientation, shape control, and vibration suppression, and the inability to perform adequate ground testing, these characteristics present an unconventional identification and control design problem to the systems theorist. Some of the research underway within Langley's Spacecraft Control Branch, Guidance and Control Division aimed at developing theory and algorithms to treat large space structures systems identification and control problems is described. The research areas to be considered are computer-aided design algorithms, and systems identification and control of distributed systems.

Armstrong, Ernest S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Integrated thermal-structural analysis of large space structures

Optimum performance of large space antennas requires very fine control of the shape of the antenna surface since the shape affects both frequency control and pointing accuracy. A significant factor affecting the antenna shape is the temperature of the structure and the resulting deformation. To accurately predict the temperature of the structure, it is necessary first to accurately predict thermal loads. As the structure orbits the Earth, the thermal loads change constantly so that the thermal-structural response varies continuously throughout the orbit. The results from recent applications of integrated finite element methodology to heat load determination and thermal-structural analysis of large space structures are given. Four areas are concentrated on: (1) the characteristics of the integrated finite element methodology, (2) fundamentals of orbital heat load calculation, (3) description and comparison of some radiation finite elements, and (4) application of the integrated finite-element approach to the thermal-structural analysis of an orbiting truss structure.

Mahaney, J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Nondestructive Structural Damage Detection in Flexible Space Structures Using Vibration Characterization

Spacecraft are susceptible to structural damage over their operating life from impact, environmental loads, and fatigue. Structural damage that is not detected and not corrected may potentially cause more damage and eventually catastrophic structural failure. NASA's current fleet of reusable spacecraft, namely the Space Shuttle, has been flown on several missions. In addition, configurations of future NASA space structures, e.g. Space Station Freedom, are larger and more complex than current structures, making them more susceptible to damage as well as being more difficult to inspect. Consequently, a reliable structural damage detection capability is essential to maintain the flight safety of these structures. Visual inspections alone can not locate impending material failure (fatigue cracks, yielding); it can only observe post-failure situations. An alternative approach is to develop an inspection and monitoring system based on vibration characterization that assesses the integrity of structural and mechanical components. A methodology for detecting structural damage is presented. This methodology is based on utilizing modal test data in conjunction with a correlated analytical model of the structure to: (1) identify the structural dynamic characteristics (resonant frequencies and mode shapes) from measurements of ambient motions and/or force excitation; (2) calculate modal residual force vectors to identify the location of structural damage; and (3) conduct a weighted sensitivity analysis in order to assess the extent of mass and stiffness variations, where structural damage is characterized by stiffness reductions. The approach is unique from other existing approaches in that varying system mass and stiffness, mass center locations, the perturbation of both the natural frequencies and mode shapes, and statistical confidence factors for structural parameters and experimental instrumentation are all accounted for directly.

Ricles, James M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Bipedal Isotropic Lattice Locomoting Explorer: Robotic Platform for Locomotion and Manipulation of Discrete Lattice Structures and Lightweight Space Structures

A robotic platform for traversing and manipulating a modular 3D lattice structure is described. The robot is designed specifically for its tasks within a structured environment, and is simplified in terms of its numbers of degrees of freedom (DOF). This allows for simpler controls and a reduction of mass and cost. Designing the robot relative to the environment in which it operates results in a specific type of robot called a "relative robot". Depending on the task and environment, there can be a number of relative robots. This invention describes a bipedal robot which can locomote across a periodic lattice structure made of building block parts. The robot is able to handle, manipulate, and transport these blocks when there is more than one robot. Based on a general inchworm design, the robot has added functionality while retaining minimal complexity, and can perform numerous maneuvers for increased speed, reach, and placement.

Jenett, Benjamin↗
NASA NTRS1988

Overview of structural parameter identification for large space structures needs, concepts, limits, potential

Virtually all space structure mission requirements include control of vibration, position, and possibly shape. In order to satisfy their requirements it is necessary to know the dynamic characteristics of the structure. Therefore, a means must be developed to continuously determine a dynamic model, or changes in the model, and to appropriately adapt the controls to these changes. The detection and location of physical damage would also be a very beneficial characteristic of such a procedure. A discussion outlining the methods to perform On-Orbit Model Determination is presented.

Berman, Alex↗
NASA NTRS1990

Integrated controls-structures optimization of a large space structure

A technique for the simultaneous optimization of structural and control elements of a large space structure is developed and demonstrated for a test problem, the NASA COFS-I Mast Flight System. General-purpose control and structural-analysis codes are applied directly to a large detailed model, with realistic objective and constraint functions. The steps in the process (structural optimization, control optimization, and system coordination) are described and illustrated with diagrams; the numerical implementation (using different computers for different steps) is discussed; and results showing significant design improvements in three COFS-I configurations are presented in graphs. When the weights of both structure and power-generating equipment are taken into account, a 40-bay truss design is found to be better than designs with 42 or 44 bays.

Padula, Sharon L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Experimental validation of optimization-based integrated controls-structures design methodology for flexible space structures

An optimization-based integrated design approach for flexible space structures is experimentally validated using three types of dissipative controllers, including static, dynamic, and LQG dissipative controllers. The nominal phase-0 of the controls structure interaction evolutional model (CEM) structure is redesigned to minimize the average control power required to maintain specified root-mean-square line-of-sight pointing error under persistent disturbances. The redesign structure, phase-1 CEM, was assembled and tested against phase-0 CEM. It is analytically and experimentally demonstrated that integrated controls-structures design is substantially superior to that obtained through the traditional sequential approach. The capability of a software design tool based on an automated design procedure in a unified environment for structural and control designs is demonstrated.

Maghami, Peiman G.↗
NASA NTRS1985

An Integrated Control and Minimum Mass Structural Optimization Algorithm for Large Space Structures

A new approach is discussed for solving dual structural control optimization problems for high-order flexible space structures, where reduced-order structural models are employed and minimum mass designs are sought. For a given initial structural design, a quadratic control cost is minimized subject to a constant-mass constraint. The sensitivity of the optimal control cost with respect to the structural design variables is then determined and used to obtain successive structural redesigns, using a constrained gradient optimization algorithm. This process is repeated until the constrained control cost sensitivity becomes negligible. The minimum mass design is obtained by solving a sequence of neighboring optimal constant mass designs, where the sequence of optimal performance indices has a minimum at the optimal minimum mass design. A numerical example is presented which demonstrates that this new approach effectively addresses the problem of dual optimization for potentially very high-order structures.

Messac, A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Dual structural-control optimization of large space structures

A new approach is proposed for solving dual structural-control optimization problems for high-order flexible space structures where reduced-order structural models are employed. For a given initial structural dessign, a quadratic control cost is minimized subject to a constant-mass constraint. The sensitivity of the optimal control cost with respect to the stuctural design variables is then determined and used to obtain successive structural redesigns using a contrained gradient optimization algorithm. This process is repeated until the constrained control cost sensitivity becomes negligible. A numerical example is presented which demonstrates that this new approach effectively addresses the problem of dual optimization for potentially very high-order structures.

Messac, A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Exploration of RNA structure spaces

In order to understand the structure of real structure spaces, we are studying the 5S rRNA structure space experimentally. A plasmid containing a synthetic 5S rRNA gene, two rRNA promoters, and transcription terminators has been assembled. Assays are conducted to determine if the foreign 5S rRNA is expressed, and to see whether or not it is incorporated into ribosomes. Evolutionary competition is used to determine the relative fitness of strains containing the foreign 5S rRNA and a control 5S rRNA. By using site directed mutagenesis, a number of mutants can be made in order to study the boundaries of the structure space and how sharply defined they are. By making similar studies in the vicinity of structure space, it will be possible to determine how homogeneous the 5S rRNA structure space is. Useable experimental protocols have been developed, and a number of mutants have already been studied. Initial results suggest an explanation of why single stranded regions of the RNA are less subject to mutation than double stranded regions.

Fox, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Development of load-dependent Ritz vector method for structural dynamic analysis of large space structures

The development and preliminary assessment of a method for dynamic structural analysis based on load-dependent Ritz vectors are presented. The vector basis is orthogonalized with respect to the mass and structural stiffness in order that the equations of motion can be uncoupled and efficient analysis of large space structure performed. A series of computer programs was developed based on the algorithm for generating the orthogonal load-dependent Ritz vectors. Transient dynamic analysis performed on the Space Station Freedom using the software was found to provide solutions that require a smaller number of vectors than the modal analysis method. Error norm based on the participation of the mass distribution of the structure and spatial distribution of structural loading, respectively, were developed in order to provide an indication of vector truncation. These norms are computed before the transient analysis is performed. An assessment of these norms through a convergence study of the structural response was performed. The results from this assessment indicate that the error norms can provide a means of judging the quality of the vector basis and accuracy of the transient dynamic solution.

Ricles, James M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Structural identification and damage assessment of large space structures

Two different methods are proposed for identifying the structural properties of large orbiting space structures under ordinary service loads, and for assessing potential damage due to impact or other extreme loadings. It is shown that the behavior of a structure in a weightless environment is nonlinear due to unloaded or lightly loaded connections, an effect which not only complicates structural control, but makes the problem of system identification more difficult than for ground based systems. Both proposed methods assume that the structure is subjected to loads imposed by prescribed self stressing systems sufficient to produce repeatable internal force systems in the structure. The first method is based on statical response and requires a survey of structural displacements produced by the self stressing systems. The displacements do not have to be determined completely (i.e., in three directions at each connection), but more displacement information produces more accurate structural stiffness information. It is anticipated that displacement measurements will be taken using on-board laser measurement devices. The second technique employs dynamic stress wave measurement techniques using on-board loading devices and strain gages to track stress wave propagation through the space structure. This approach, which is in its early stages of development, relies on an analysis of transit times of impulsive stress waves and changes in transit times and wave forms due to changes in structural parameters.

Nelson, Richard B.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Structural Certification of Human-Rated Inflatable Space Structures

This paper details the results of an initial study to develop a certification plan for human-rated inflatable space structures, including guidelines for qualification testing. Habitable softgoods inflatables are multi-layered shell structures that use high-strength webbing, cordage and broadcloth fabric to carry the skin loads of a variety of volumetric shapes and structural architectures. The primary objectives of this study are to define the key parameters that affect these structures and propose a statistically robust approach to defining safety and knockdown factors based on test and analysis. Current NASA standards for habitable inflatable space structures use a factor of safety of 4, which was inherited from airship design criteria. An updated approach to defining a design factor, taking into account material strength variability, load variability in the article, number of test samples, and damage and degradation effects is specified. Accurate analytical modeling of these structures is hindered by the difficulty of obtaining accurate and consistent material data due to load-history- dependent, nonlinear load versus strain behavior. A building block approach to certification is detailed that uses stochastic modeling and statistical test design and analysis to address the unique challenges these high-strength softgoods structures present. Human-rated inflatable modules are a transformative capability for launching much larger habitable volumes into space than is possible with rigid shell structures. This research aims to provide the framework for certifying these structures for future human space exploration missions.

Jones, Thomas C.↗