Equations of motion for maneuvering flexible spacecraft. (English) Zbl 0634.70026
Summary: This paper is concerned with the derivation of the equations of motion for maneuvering flexible spacecraft both in orbit and in an Earth-based laboratory. The structure is assumed to undergo large rigid-body maneuvers and small elastic deformations. A perturbation approach is presented in which the quantities defining the rigid-body maneuver are regarded as the unperturbed motion and the elastic motions and deviations from the rigid-body motions are regarded as the perturbed motion. The perturbation equations are linear, non-self-adjoint, and with time- dependent coefficients. A maneuver force distribution exciting the least amount of elastic deformation of the spacecraft is developed. Numerical results highlight the vibration caused by rotational maneuvers.
MSC:
70M20 | Orbital mechanics |
70B15 | Kinematics of mechanisms and robots |
70-08 | Computational methods for problems pertaining to mechanics of particles and systems |