Abstract
A general methodology for the dynamics of spacecraft with rigid–liquid–flexible body coupling is established by using Kane’s equations, whereby the combined sloshing in multiple tanks and the dynamic stiffening of flexible solar panels are both accommodated. First, the kinematic evolution equation of attitude motion is expressed in terms of quaternions. Second, the liquid sloshing dynamics in the tanks are made by including the constraint-surface model. Third, the stiffening effect of the flexible solar panels is incorporated into the dynamics formulation by adopting the hypothesis of geometrically nonlinear deformation rather than that of Kirchhoff–Love plate. Kane’s method is chosen for its efficiency in deriving the coupled dynamics model of a spacecraft undergoing large overall motion. Simulation examples are given to validate the reliability of this dynamics model in predicting the total slosh force and the total slosh torque under complicated excitations, to manifest the superiority of the methodology based on the geometrically nonlinear deformation over the conventional theory based on the assumption of the Kirchhoff–Love plate, and to analyze the rigid–liquid–flexible coupling effects of the spacecraft during the in-orbit three-axis stabilized maneuver. It is found that there is a violent disturbance to the attitude motion in the form of beat vibration due to the nonlinear coupling effects among the large-amplitude sloshing in multiple tanks, the vibration of geometrically nonlinear deformation of flexible solar panels, and the control system.
Published Version
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