Vibration and instability of thin-walled spacecraft booms exposed to solar radiation, via wavelet transform technique: linear approch of a nonlinear problem
by
Pantele Chelu
Department of Mechanics and Vibrations, Polytechnical University of Timisoara, 1900 Timisoara, ROMANIA
Coauthors: Liviu Librescu (Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0219, USA)

Keywords: Dynamic response, stability, thin-walled beam, composed structure, solar radiation, wavelet technique.

Abstract: This paper deals with the dynamic response of flexible circular thin-walled composite booms exposed to unidirectional solar radiation. The structural model of the boom is based on a refined thin-walled beam theory that includes transverse shear deformation, rotatory inertia and thermal effects. The related dynamic governing equations and boundary conditions are obtained via the application of Hamilton's principle. We propose a new accurate efficient modelling technique for the dynamic response of thin-walled beam structures subjected to solar heating that is based on the Wavelet-Galerkin Method, in conjunction with the orthogonalization of the B-Spline functions. Effects of damping ratio, solar incidence angle, heat flux level, boom relative length, tip mass on the dynamic response and instability of thin-walled composite booms are studied. The effectiveness of the present approach is demonstrated by some numerical examples. From the obtained numerical results one can infer about the influence on the dynamic response and instability of the principal parameters involved. The transversal deflection time history of the boom is presented graphically.

Date received: January 31, 2004

Copyright © 2004 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # cakt-46.