Deployment Dynamics of a Tape-Shaped Tethered Satellite
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 4
Abstract
In comparison with conventional thin-cylindrical tethers, tape-shaped tethers have obvious advantages in orbital applications such as electron collection, satellite deorbit, and reliability. There are many differences between them not only in appearance but also in dynamics. Hence, this paper studies the dynamics of a tape-shaped flexible tethered satellite during free deployment. First, an approximate model for the system, in which the tape-shaped tether is divided into a series of rigid elements connected by massless spherical joints, was structured. The bending stiffness of the tether was analyzed, and the tension force along the tether length direction was ignored. In particular, three types of constraint equations for rigid elements were built to help identify tether deployment. Then, the kinetic friction force between the tape-shaped tether and deployment device, as well as the atmospheric drag/lift on the system, were discussed. Finally, numerical simulations demonstrated that the deployment dynamics of the tape-shaped tethered system are sensitive to the bending stiffness, friction force, and orbital altitude.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (12072147 and 11672125), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20211177), the Aviation Science Foundation of China (2020Z063052001), and the Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures (MCMS-I-0120G03).
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 4 • July 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 13, 2021
Accepted: Feb 28, 2022
Published online: Apr 9, 2022
Published in print: Jul 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Sep 9, 2022
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