Development of orbital mechanics from discrete system to continuous system for space flexible structure

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21045
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 24:Aerospace engineering, marine and maritime engineering, and related fields
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Inamori Takaya 名古屋大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (50725249)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 佐藤 泰貴 国立研究開発法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, 宇宙科学研究所, 准教授 (70726760)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 宇宙構造物 / 軌道力学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to investigate and clarify the behavior of space flexible structures from a new perspective of orbital mechanics.
In this study, the effect of relative orbital motion expressed by the Hill　equation is applied to the mass element of the flexible structure and its　behavior is formulated for the membrane structure. Furthermore, a simulator based on a many-particle system model is created to simulate the orbital motion of the membrane structure. The effects of orbital motion and the effects of forces due to the space environment are implemented. Furthermore, an efficient attitude control method with small power and time was developed by actively using vibrational excitation caused by orbital motion. Specifically, we focused on the fact that the magnetic field of the space　environment changes significantly depending on the orbit, and investigated a method to induce attitude change by adding a current loop to the space structure.

Free Research Field

航空宇宙工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで検討されてきた軌道力学の知見を連続系にも適用することができる。また、離散系軌道力学では表現が難しいより高周波数の励起振動を扱うことや軌道要素パラメータで構造挙動を扱い，軌道摂動効果の見通しを改善することができる。
さらに、衛星アウトガスなど他連続系にも軌道力学を適用でき応用が広がり、軌道運動で励起される振動を活用した柔軟構造物の効率的な姿勢変更も可能である．