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At least 613 records · Page 34
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Experimental studies of active members in control of large space structures

Intelligent structures for precision spacecraft applications are structural systems incorporating sensors, actuators, and built-in electronic logic that facilitate self-monitoring of structure responses to disturbances. Attention is presently given to adaptive structures, in which the electronic logic need not be integral to the structure. Active members are used to replace selected passive members of truss-type structures; the sensors employed allow measurement of the elastic strain and deformation experienced by the structure. Two struss-type testbed structures are described.

Fanson, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Effect of joint damping and joint nonlinearity on the dynamics of space structures

Analyses of the effect of linear joint characteristics on the vibrations of a free-free, three-joint beam model show that increasing joint damping increases resonant frequencies and increases modal damping but only to the point where the joint gets 'locked up' by damping. This behavior is different from that predicted by modeling joint damping as proportional damping. Nonlinear analyses of the three-joint model with cubic springs at the joints show all the classical single DOF nonlinear response behavior at each resonance of the multiple DOF system: nondoubling of response for a doubling of forcing amplitude, multiple solutions, jump behavior, and resonant frequency shifts. These properties can be concisely quantified by characteristic backbone curves, which show the locus of resonant peaks for increasing forcing amplitude.

Bowden, Mary↗
NASA NTRS1988

Effects of nonlinear damping in flexible space structures

The classical Krylov-Bogoliubov "averaging" technique is used to study a class of nonlinear damping models, for which the damping force is proportional to the product of positive integer or fractional power of absolute values of displacement and that of velocity. The results are compared with linear viscous damping models. The amplitude decrement of free vibration for a single mode system with nonlinear models depends not only on damping ratio, but also on the initial amplitude, the time to measure the response, frequency of the system, and the powers of displacement and velocity. For the distributed system, the action of nonlinear damping is found to reduce energy of the system as well as to pass energy to higher modes. Experimental evidence such as in Spacecraft Control Laboratory Experiment seems to support the need for nonlinear models.

Hu, Anren↗
NASA NTRS1988

Placing dynamic sensors and actuators on flexible space structures

Input/Output Cost Analysis involves decompositions of the quadratic cost function into contributions from each stochastic input and each weighted output. In the past, these suboptimal cost decomposition methods of sensor and actuator selection (SAS) have been used to locate perfect (infinite bandwidth) sensor and actuators on large scale systems. This paper extends these ideas to the more practical case of imperfect actuators and sensors with dynamics of their own. NASA's SCOLE examples demonstrate that sensor and actuator dynamics affect the optimal selection and placement of sensors and actuators.

Norris, Gregory A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The dynamics and control of large flexible space structures, part 11

A mathematical model is developed to predict the dynamics of the proposed Spacecraft Control Laboratory Experiment during the stationkeeping phase. The Shuttle and reflector are assumed to be rigid, while the mass connecting the Shuttle to the reflector is assumed to be flexible with elastic deformations small as compared with its length. It is seen that in the presence of gravity-gradient torques, the system assumes a new equilibrium position primarily due to the offset in the mass attachment point to the reflector from the reflector's mass center. Control is assumed to be provided through the Shuttle's three torquers and throught six actuators located by painrs at two points on the mass and at the reflector mass center. Numerical results confirm the robustness of an LQR derived control strategy during stationkeeping with maximum control efforts significantly below saturation levels. The linear regulator theory is also used to derive control laws for the linearized model of the rigidized SCOLE configuration where the mast flexibility is not included. It is seen that this same type of control strategy can be applied for the rapid single axis slewing of the SCOLE through amplitudes as large as 20 degrees. These results provide a definite trade-off between the slightly larger slewing times with the considerable reduction in over-all control effort as compared with the results of the two point boundary value problem application of Pontryagin's Maximum Principle.

Bainum, Peter M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A study of material damping in large space structures

A constitutive model was developed for predicting damping as a function of damage in continuous fiber reinforced laminated composites. The damage model is a continuum formulation, and uses internal state variables to quantify damage and its subsequent effect on material response. The model is sensitive to the stacking sequence of the laminate. Given appropriate baseline data from unidirectional material, and damping as a function of damage in one crossply laminate, damage can be predicted as a function of damage in other crossply laminates. Agreement between theory and experiment was quite good. A micromechanics model was also developed for examining the influence of damage on damping. This model explicitly includes crack surfaces. The model provides reasonable predictions of bending stiffness as a function of damage. Damping predictions are not in agreement with the experiment. This is thought to be a result of dissipation mechanisms such as friction, which are not presently included in the analysis.

Highsmith, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Design of ground test suspension systems for verification of flexible space structures

A simple model demonstrates the frequency-increasing effects of a simple cable suspension on flexible test article/suspension systems. Two passive suspension designs, namely a negative spring mechanism and a rolling cart mechanism, are presented to alleviate the undesirable frequency-increasing effects. Analysis methods are provided for systems in which the augmentations are applied to both discrete and continuous representations of test articles. The damping analyses are based on friction equivalent viscous damping. Numerical examples are given for comparing the two augmentations with respect to minimizing frequency and damping increases.

Cooley, V. M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A frequency domain analysis for damped space structures

A method is presented for the analysis of damped structural systems in which the structural components are represented by impedance models and analyzed in the frequency domain. Methods are presented to assemble and condense system impedance matrices, and then to identify approximate mass, stiffness, and damping matrices for systems whose impedances are complicated functions of frequency. Formulas are derived for determination of approximate values for system natural frequencies and damping using frequency domain quantities. The sensitivities of these approximate values to system parameter changes are analyzed. The implementation of these analysis tools is discussed and applied to a simple mechanical system.

Hagood, Nesbitt W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Efficient eigenvalue assignment for large space structures

A novel and efficient approach for the eigenvalue assignment of large first-order time-invariant systems is developed using full-state feedback and output feedback. First, a Schur decomposition is applied to triangularize the state matrix. Second, a series of coordinate rotations (Givens rotations) are used to move the eigenvalue to be reassigned to the end of the diagonal of its Schur form. Third, the eigenvalue is moved to the desired location by a full-state feedback, without affecting the remaining eigenvalues. The second and third step can be repeated until all the assignable eigenvalues are moved to the desired locations. Given the freedom of multiple inputs, the feedback gain matrix is calculated to minimize an objective function composed of a gain matrix norm and/or a robustness index of the closed-loop system. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Maghami, Peiman G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Application of attachment modes in the control of large space structures

Various ways are examined to obtain reduced order mathematical models of structures for use in dynamic response analyses and in controller design studies. Attachment modes are deflection shapes of a structure subjected to specified unit load distributions. Attachment modes are frequently employed to supplement free-interface normal modes to improve the modeling of components (structures) employed in component mode synthesis analyses. Deflection shapes of structures subjected to generalized loads of some specified distribution and of unit magnitude can also be considered to be attachment modes. Several papers which were written under this contract are summarized herein.

Craig, Roy R., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Robust fixed order dynamic compensation for large space structure control

A simple formulation for designing fixed order dynamic compensators which are robust to both uncertainty at the plant input and structured uncertainty in the plant dynamics is presented. The emphasis is on designing low order compensators for systems of high order. The formulation is done in an output feedback setting which exploits an observer canonical form to represent the compensator dynamics. The formulation also precludes the use of direct feedback of the plant output. The main contribution lies in defining a method for penalizing the states of the plant and of the compensator, and for choosing the distribution on initial conditions so that the loop transfer matrix approximates that of a full state design. To improve robustness to parameter uncertainty, the formulation avoids the introduction of sensitivity states, which has led to complex formulations in earlier studies where only structured uncertainty has been considered.

Calise, Anthony J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The dynamics and control of large flexible space structures - 13

The optimal control of three-dimensional large angle maneuvers and vibrations of a Shuttle-mast-reflector system is considered. The nonlinear equations of motion are formulated by using Lagrange's formula, with the mast modeled as a continuous beam subject to three-dimensional deformations. Pontryagin's Maximum Principle is applied to the slewing problem, to derive the necessary conditions for the optimal controls, which are bounded by given saturation levels. The resulting two point boundary value problem is then solved by using the quasilinearization algorithm and the method of particular solutions. The study of the large angle maneuvering of the Shuttle-beam-reflector spacecraft in the plane of a circular earth orbit is extended to consider the effects of the structural offset connection, the axial shortening, and the gravitational torque on the slewing motion. Finally the effect of additional design parameters (such as related to additional payload requirement) on the linear quadratic regulator based design of an orbiting control/structural system is examined.

Bainum, Peter M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

On-orbit vibration testing for space structures

A simulated on-orbit modal test using active members as the excitation source has been performed on the Precision Truss. Using the step sine testing technique, the frequency response functions are obtained and the modal parameters are extracted by the curve-fitting method. A total of 10 global modes and 3 local modes are obtained. The results are compared with those obtained by the conventional external excitation test.

Chen, Jay-Chung↗