A parallel algorithm for the simulation of controlled motion of space tether systems

Abstract

Simulation of the controlled motion of space tether systems differs significantly from the free motion case. Tether deployment increases its length and adds new points into the discrete model of the tether. A set of dynamic equations is expanded with equations that describe the motion of the new points. The necessary condition at each step is the consistency of the system. Tether deployment is supervised by the control system which limits the tether length. The problem arises of solving a system of differential equations with variable and increasing number of equations. In this paper a parallel algorithm for simulating the controlled motion of space tether systems is designed. The parallel algorithm provides an ability to split the tether to such number of points that the model becomes similar to the model with distributed parameters. As a result, the simulation of several modes of tether motion unavailable for other methods becomes possible. The estimation of speedup provided by the algorithm is implemented. It shows that the speedup is comparable with the more simple case of the free motion simulation. Computational experiments have been carried out for the algorithm performance evaluation.