Spin Deployment Dynamics Simulation of Membrane Solar Sail Based on ANCF

Abstract

During the launch process of the membrane solar sail for deep space exploration mission， the membrane structure presents significant asymmetric characteristics under tension and compression. The dynamic behavior of the system shows strong nonlinear characteristics，which brings great challenges to the dynamic modeling and simulation calculation. Based on the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation （ANCF）， integrating the tension field theory and the elasticity theory of different moduluses, the accurate tangent stiffness matrix of the element was derived， and a calculation method of ANCF membrane element considering different moduluses was proposed. On this basis, the first kind of Lagrange equation was used to model the dynamics of membrane solar sail，the dynamic equations were solved by the generalized-α algorithm with controllable numerical dissipation，and the influence of different structural design parameters of solar sail on its deployment dynamic characteristics was analyzed. The simulation results verify the stability and efficiency of this method in dealing with space membrane problems，and provide theoretical guidance for the system design of large sail membrane structures.

Keywords

ANCF / membrane structure / elastic theory of different moduluses