Nonlinear dynamics of flexible tethered satellite system subject to space environment

doi:10.1007/s10483-016-2049-9

Abstract

Abstract:

The paper studies the nonlinear dynamics of a flexible tethered satellite system subject to space environments, such as the J₂ perturbation, the air drag force, the solar pressure, the heating effect, and the orbital eccentricity. The flexible tether is modeled as a series of lumped masses and viscoelastic dampers so that a finite multidegree-of-freedom nonlinear system is obtained. The stability of equilibrium positions of the nonlinear system is then analyzed via a simplified two-degree-freedom model in an orbital reference frame. In-plane motions of the tethered satellite system are studied numerically, taking the space environments into account. A large number of numerical simulations show that the flexible tethered satellite system displays nonlinear dynamic characteristics, such as bifurcations, quasi-periodic oscillations, and chaotic motions.

Key words: flexible tether model, stability, tethered satellite system, nonlinear dynamics, space environment

2010 MSC Number:

70E50
70E55

Bensong YU, Dongping JIN, Hao WEN. Nonlinear dynamics of flexible tethered satellite system subject to space environment. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition), 2016, 37(4): 485-500.

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