Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “flexible appendage”

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.

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

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1977

Specifying spacecraft flexible appendage rigidity

As a method for specifying the required degree of rigidity of spacecraft flexible appendages, an analytical technique is proposed for establishing values for the frequency, damping ratio, and modal gain (deflection) of the first several bending modes. The shortcomings of the technique result from the limitations associated with the order of the equations that can be handled practically. An iterative method is prescribed for handling a system whose structural flexibility is described by more than one normal mode. The analytical technique is applied to specifying solar panel rigidity constraints for the NASA Space Telescope. The traditional nonanalytic procedure for specifying the required degree of rigidity of spacecraft flexible appendages has been to set a lower limit below which bending mode frequencies may not lie.

Seltzer, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Multipulse precession of spinning spacecraft with flexible appendages

A multipulse precession scheme for spinners with large flexible appendages is described. By choosing the prescribed time delay between pulses as integer (or half integer) multiples of the several incommensurate modal periods it is possible to leave both central spinner and appendages in a final state of negligible nutation. Computer simulations illustrate the several schemes. The results indicate that the proposed method is relatively insensitive to parameter variations such as thruster and inertia uncertainties. Complete equations are presented, including a closed form solution for an important special case: the appendage plane contains the central body mass center.

Vogel, E.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Coordinate transformation and truncation for rotating spacecraft with flexible appendages

The analytical structures of alternative coordinate transformations for the variables that characterize the deformations of finite element models of flexible appendages on rotating spacecraft are examined. Particular emphasis is given to the truncation operations that are essential for efficient numerical simulations of flexible spacecraft, due to the necessarily large number of coordinates employed in a finite element description. A theorem is developed which establishes necessary conditions for the commutativity of the required truncation and inversion operations. The recommended alternative for the rotating elastic appendage is a complex transformation with previously published orthogonality properties, which permit the derivation in this paper of a relatively simple explicit set of transformed and truncated equations of modal vibration in real variables.

Likins, P.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Attitude dynamic of spin-stabilized satellites with flexible appendages

Equations of motion and computer programs have been developed for analyzing the motion of a spin-stabilized spacecraft having long, flexible appendages. Stability charts were derived, or can be redrawn with the desired accuracy for any particular set of design parameters. Simulation graphs of variables of interest are readily obtainable on line using program FLEXAT. Finally, applications to actual satellites, such as UK-4 and IMP-1 have been considered.

Renard, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

The stability of motion satellites with long flexible appendages

The dynamics of a gravity-gradient stabilized flexible satellite in the neighborhood of a deformed equilibrium configuration are investigated. First the equilibrium configuration is determined by solving a set of nonlinear differential equations. Then stability of motion about the deformed equilibrium is tested by means of the Liapunov direct method and the natural frequencies of oscillation of the complete structure calculated. The analysis is applicable to the RAE/B satellite.

Meirovitch, L.↗
NASA NTRS1973

A study of the dynamics of rotating space stations with elastically connected counterweight and attached flexible appendages. Volume 1: Theory

The formulation of a mathematical model for predicting the dynamic behavior of rotating flexible space station configurations was conducted. The overall objectives of the study were: (1) to develop the theoretical techniques for determining the behavior of a realistically modeled rotating space station, (2) to provide a versatile computer program for the numerical analysis, and (3) to present practical concepts for experimental verification of the analytical results. The mathematical model and its associated computer program are described.

Austin, F.↗
NASA NTRS1972

The stability of motion of satellites with flexible appendages

The mathematical formulation associated with the problem of stability of motion of a satellite consisting of a main rigid body and three (or less) pairs of flexible rods is presented. The rods are capable of flexure in two orthogonal directions. Whereas the rotational motion of the body is described by generalized coordinates depending on time alone, the elastic displacements of the rods depend both on spatial position and time. Assuming no external torques, there exist motion integrals in the form of momentum integrals. These integrals can be regarded as constraint equations relating the system velocities, and used to reduce the number of variables describing the motion. The stability analysis has been carried out by means of an extension of the Liapunov direct method. Since the elastic vibrations result in energy dissipation, it is shown that the equilibrium position is asymptotically stable if the Hamiltonian is positive definite and unstable if it can take negative values in the neighborhood of the equilibrium. Determining the sign definiteness of the Hamiltonian is complicated by the fact that it contains spatial derivatives of the elastic displacements. Two methods are presented to cope with this problem. The first, the standard modal analysis in conjunction with series truncation, develops criteria in terms of infinite series associated with the natural modes and frequencies of the elastic rods. The second, the method of integral coordinates, yields closed-form stability criteria involving the system parameters, such as the body moments of inertia, the length and mass distribution of the rods, the lowest natural frequencies of the rods, and the satellite spin velocity.

Meirovitch, L.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Simulation of flexible appendage interactions with Mariner Venus/Mercury attitude control and science platform pointing

A new computer subroutine, which solves the attitude equations of motion for any vehicle idealized as a topological tree of hinge-connected rigid bodies, is used to simulate and analyze science instrument pointing control interaction with a flexible Mariner Venus/Mercury (MVM) spacecraft. The subroutine's user options include linearized or partially linearized hinge-connected models whose computational advantages are demonstrated for the MVM problem. Results of the pointing control/flexible vehicle interaction simulations, including imaging experiment pointing accuracy predictions and implications for MVM science sequence planning, are described in detail.

Fleischer, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Dynamics of spacecraft with deploying flexible appendages

A computational formulation for the dynamic analysis of spacecraft with deploying appendages is presented. The appendage model is based on a geometrically nonlinear beam formulation which accurately accounts for large rotational and large deformation motions. A moving finite element reference grid is incorporated within the nonlinear beam formulation to model the deployment motion. Hamilton's Law is used to formulate the general equations of motion, and a transient integration solution procedure is derived from a space-time finite element discretization of the Hamiltonian variational statement. Computational results of the methodology are presented for a classical gravity gradient stabilized satellite configuration.

Downer, Janice D.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Control System and Flexible Satellite Interaction During Orbit Transfer Maneuver

In this paper the interaction between the attitude control system and the flexible structure of an artificial satellite during orbit transfer maneuver has been investigated. The satellite was modeled by a rigid central body with one or more flexible appendages. The dynamics equations were obtained by Lagrangean approach. The flexible appendages were treated as clamped-free beam and its displacement was discretized by assumed- mode method. In order to transfer the satellite, a typical Hohmann transfer and a burn-coast-burn strategy were used and the attitude was controlled by an on-off controller. During transfer procedure a global analysis of satellite has been done, such as: performance of control system, influence of elastic response in control system, thruster firing frequency, fuel consumption and variation of orbital elements. In order to avoid the interaction with structure motion, a control system with bandwidth of one decade bellow the fundamental frequency was used. In the simulations the firing frequency was evaluated in an approximately way but kept below the fundamental frequency of the structure. The control system has kept the attitude below the specifications. As a result, the orbit transfer maneuvering has been done correctly without excessive excitation of flexible appendage.

Adenilson Roberto da Silva↗
NASA NTRS1972

Finite element appendage equations for hybrid coordinate dynamic analysis.

The increasingly common practice of idealizing a spacecraft as a collection of interconnected rigid bodies to some of which are attached linearly elastic flexible appendages leads to equations of motion expressed in terms of a combination of discrete coordinates describing the arbitrary rotational motions of the rigid bodies and distributed or modal coordinates describing the small, time-varying deformations of the appendages: such a formulation is said to employ a hybrid system of coordinates. In the present paper the existing literature is extended to provide hybrid coordinate equations of motion for a finite element model of a flexible appendage attached to a rigid base undergoing unrestricted motions and some of the advantages of the finite element approach are noted. Transformations to the modal coordinates appropriate for the general case are provided.

Likins, P. W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Nonlinear slew maneuver dynamics of large flexible spacecrafts

In this paper, the dynamics of three-dimensional, large-angle arbitrary slew maneuvers of a large flexible spacecraft are developed. The dynamical equations obtained allow maneuver specifications about any axis and are highly nonlinear. They also include coupling between the rigid orbiter and the flexible appendage and correction for motion stiffness. A decentralized control scheme is utilized for performing the maneuver of the rigidized body and for vibration suppression of the flexible appendage. The method developed in this paper is further applied to NASA Spacecraft Control Laboratory Experiment (SCOLE) test facility.

Kakad, Y. P.↗