Spacecraft damping considerations in structural design

Abstract

The role of damping in the prediction of spacecraft structural responses and loads, and in the structural design of spacecrafts is discussed. The methods used to incorporate damping in the structural analysis are summarized and some experiences and procedures relating to damping in recent spacecraft design are discussed. Methods for modal testing and the experimental determination of damping, the use of discrete dampers, and the estimation of payload response are studied. A collection of damping data for recent spacecraft and related hardware is provided in the appendix.