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Chaotic oscillations of spacecraft with an elastic radially oriented tether

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Abstract

A mechanical system consisting of a spacecraft with weightless elastic tether and load is considered in the paper. The spacecraft motion under the action of tensile force of a radially oriented tether is investigated. It is shown that elastic tether oscillations can result in appearance of chaotic modes of spacecraft motion. By means of the Melnikov method a condition is obtained, allowing one to determine the measure of damping sufficient for prevention of these chaotic modes. The influence of system’s mass-geometric and elastic characteristics on the form of phase portrait and on the value of periodic disturbance, caused by oscillations of the elastic vertical tether, is studied.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Samara State Aerospace University, Moskovskoye sh. 34, Samara, 443086, Russia

    V. S. Aslanov & A. S. Ledkov

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  1. V. S. Aslanov
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  2. A. S. Ledkov
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Correspondence to V. S. Aslanov.

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Original Russian Text © V.S. Aslanov, A.S. Ledkov, 2012, published in Kosmicheskie Issledovaniya, 2012, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 194–204.

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Aslanov, V.S., Ledkov, A.S. Chaotic oscillations of spacecraft with an elastic radially oriented tether. Cosmic Res 50, 188–198 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952512020013

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952512020013

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