Parametric Studies of the Whole Spacecraft Vibration Isolation

Abstract

Introduction I N space industries two important challenges are the minimum structural mass of a spacecraft and the maximum market of a launchvehicle.A major factor,which determineswhether these targets can be reachedor not, is the dynamic environment that a launch vehicle can provide to its payloads.The launch stage is the most severe dynamic environment that a spacecraft will experience during its normalmission life. To survive the launchstage, the strengthof a spacecraft structurehas to be sufŽ ciently high, and this is translated into some extra mass that will be useless in the orbiter for a normal mission.As there are more andmore launch service providersin the world, spacecraft owners now have more choices than ever before. From such aspects as reliability and economics, the dynamic environment is a major factor considered in choosing a launch vehicle. Because the concept was proposed, the whole spacecraft vibration isolation (WSVI) technologyhas been successfullyapplied for many times.1;2 The purpose of theWSVI is to improve the dynamic environment signiŽ cantly by adding vibration isolators or damping treatment to the payload adaptor Ž tting (PAF). Currently, theWSVI is considered as the most effective and economic approach for improvingthe dynamicenvironment.A direct beneŽ t of theWSVI is to enable a spacecraft,qualiŽ ed for being launchedwith a launchvehicle, to  y using another launchvehicle.A major differencebetween two differentlaunchvehiclesusually is theirdynamicenvironments. The theory and technologyof vibration isolation have been studied formanyyears,and the vibrationisolationhas becomea standard