Rigid-flexible coupling dynamic modeling and analysis of dumbbell-shaped spacecraft

Abstract

In this paper, the dynamic modeling of a new configuration spacecraft is investigated. The significance of dumbbell-shaped spacecraft to deep space exploration and the configuration of dumbbell-shaped spacecraft are introduced firstly. Then the dynamic equations of the single flexible body and the kinematic recursive relation between adjacent bodies are deduced. The rigid-flexible coupling dynamic model of the system is established by Jourdain's velocity variation principle and the forward recursive construction formulation for flexible multibody dynamics. The validity of the dynamic model is verified by comparing results with ADAMS. Moreover, the simplification of the dynamic model is investigated to meet the requirements of controller design and the feasibility of conventional simplification method is analyzed. The simulation results show that the conventional simplified model of spacecraft cannot accurately describe the dynamic behaviors of dumbbell-shaped spacecraft. Lastly, a modified attitude dynamic model is proposed and an attitude controller is designed based on this model. The numerical simulations show that the modified model can precisely reflect the dynamic characteristics of dumbbell-shaped spacecraft.