Attitude tracking control of flexible spacecraft with large amplitude slosh

This paper is focused on attitude tracking control of a spacecraft that is equipped with flexible appendage and partially filled liquid propellant tank. The large amplitude liquid slosh is included by using a moving pulsating ball model that is further improved to estimate the settling location of liquid in microgravity or a zero-g environment. The flexible appendage is modelled as a three-dimensional Bernoulli–Euler beam, and the assumed modal method is employed.A hybrid controller that combines sliding mode control with an adaptive algorithm is designed for spacecraft to perform attitude tracking. The proposed controller has proved to be asymptotically stable. A nonlinear model for the overall coupled system including spacecraft attitude dynamics,liquid slosh, structural vibration and control action is established. Numerical simulation results are presented to show the dynamic behaviors of the coupled system and to verify the effectiveness of the control approach when the spacecraft undergoes the disturbance produced by large amplitude slosh and appendage vibration. Lastly, the designed adaptive algorithm is found to be effective to improve the precision of attitude tracking.     

AIRSHIP ATTITUDE TRACKING SYSTEM

The attitude tracking control problem for an airship with parameter uncertainties and external disturbances was considered in this paper. The mathematical model of the airship attitude is a multi-input/multi-output uncertain nonlinear system. Based on the characteristics of this system, a design method of robust output tracking controllers was adopted based on the upper-bounds of the uncertainties. Using the input/output feedback linearization approach and Liapunov method, a control law was designed, which guarantees that the system output exponentially tracks the given desired output. The controller is easy to compute and complement. Simulation results show that, in the closed-loop system, precise attitude control is accomplished in spite of the uncertainties and external disturbances in the system.     

Adaptive neural network control for coordinated motion of a dual-arm space robot system with uncertain parameters

Control of coordinated motion between the base attitude and the arm joints of a free-floating dual-arm space robot with uncertain parameters is discussed. By combining the relation of system linear momentum conversation with the Lagrangian approach, the dynamic equation of a robot is established. Based on the above results, the free-floating dual-arm space robot system is modeled with RBF neural networks, the GL matrix and its product operator. With all uncertain inertial system parameters, an adaptive RBF neural network control scheme is developed for coordinated motion between the base attitude and the arm joints. The proposed scheme does not need linear parameterization of the dynamic equation of the system and any accurate prior-knowledge of the actual inertial parameters. Also it does not need to train the neural network offline so that it would present real-time and online applications. A planar free-floating dual-arm space robot is simulated to show feasibility of the proposed scheme.     

Nonlinear integral resonant controller for vibration reduction in nonlinear systems

A new nonlinear integral resonant controller (NIRC) is introduced in this paper to suppress vibration in nonlinear oscillatory smart structures. The NIRC consists of a first-order resonant integrator that provides additional damping in a closed-loop system response to reduce high-amplitude nonlinear vibration around the fundamental reso-nance frequency. The method of multiple scales is used to obtain an approximate solution for the closed-loop system. Then closed-loop system stability is investigated using the resulting modulation equation. Finally, the effects of different control system parameters are illustrated and an approximate solution response is verified via numerical simulation results. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed controller are presented and extensively discussed in the results. The controlled system via the NIRC shows no high-amplitude peaks in the neighboring frequencies of the resonant mode, unlike conventional second-order compensation methods. This makes the NIRC controlled system robust to excitation frequency variations.     

Non-probabilistic reliability method and reliability-based optimal LQR design for vibration control of structures with uncertain-but-bounded parameters

Uncertainty is inherent and unavoidable in almost all engineering systems. It is of essential significance to deal with uncertainties by means of reliability approach and to achieve a reasonable balance between reliability against uncertainties and system performance in the control design of uncertain systems. Nevertheless, reliability methods which can be used directly for analysis and synthesis of active control of structures in the presence of uncertainties remain to be developed, especially in non-probabilistic uncertainty situations. In the present paper, the issue of vibration con- trol of uncertain structures using linear quadratic regulator （LQR） approach is studied from the viewpoint of reliabil- ity. An efficient non-probabilistic robust reliability method for LQR-based static output feedback robust control of un- certain structures is presented by treating bounded uncertain parameters as interval variables. The optimal vibration con- troller design for uncertain structures is carried out by solv- ing a robust reliability-based optimization problem with the objective to minimize the quadratic performance index. The controller obtained may possess optimum performance un- der the condition that the controlled structure is robustly re- liable with respect to admissible uncertainties. The proposed method provides an essential basis for achieving a balance between robustness and performance in controller design ot uncertain structures. The presented formulations are in the framework of linear matrix inequality and can be carried out conveniently. Two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the present method.     

Combined control of fast attitude maneuver and stabilization for large complex spacecraft

In remote sensing or laser communication space missions, spacecraft need fast maneuver and fast stabilization in order to accomplish agile imaging and attitude tracking tasks. However, fast attitude maneuvers can easily cause elastic deformations and vibrations in flexible appendages of the spacecraft. This paper focuses on this problem and deals with the combined control of fast attitude maneuver and sta- bilization for large complex spacecraft. The mathematical model of complex spacecraft with flexible appendages and momentum bias actuators on board is presented. Based on the plant model and combined with the feedback controller, modal parameters of the closed-loop system are calculated, and a multiple mode input shaper utilizing the modal information is designed to suppress vibrations. Aiming at reducing vibrations excited by attitude maneuver, a quintic polynomial form rotation path planning is proposed with constraints on the actuators and the angular velocity taken into account. Attitude maneuver simulation results of the control systems with input shaper or path planning in loop are sepa- rately analyzed, and based on the analysis, a combined control strategy is presented with both path planning and input shaper in loop. Simulation results show that the combined control strategy satisfies the complex spacecraft＇s require- ment of fast maneuver and stabilization with the actuators＇ torque limitation satisfied at the same time.     

Attitude control for part actuator failure of agile small satellite

The stability and singularity problem of agile small satellite （ASS） with actuator failure is discussed in this paper. Firstly, the three-axis stabilized controller of an ASS is designed, where micro control moment gyros （MCMG＇s） in pyramid configuration （PC） is used as the actuator. By using the same controller and steering law, the control results before and after one gyro fails are compared by simulation. The variation of singular momentum envelope before and after one gyro fails is also compared. The simulation results show that the failure intensively decreases the capacity of output torque, which leads to the emergence of more singular points and the rapid saturation of MCMG＇s. Finally, the parameters of system controller are changed to compare the control effect.     

Adaptive nonlinear model predictive control design of a flexible-link manipulator with uncertain parameters

This paper presents a novel adaptive nonlinear model predictive control design for trajectory tracking of flexible-link manipulators consisting of feedback lineariza-tion, linear model predictive control, and unscented Kalman filtering. Reducing the nonlinear system to a linear system by feedback linearization simplifies the optimization prob-lem of the model predictive controller significantly, which, however, is no longer linear in the presence of parame-ter uncertainties and can potentially lead to an undesired dynamical behaviour. An unscented Kalman filter is used to approximate the dynamics of the prediction model by an online parameter estimation, which leads to an adaptation of the optimization problem in each time step and thus to a better prediction and an improved input action. Finally, a detailed fuzzy-arithmetic analysis is performed in order to quantify the effect of the uncertainties on the control structure and to derive robustness assessments. The control structure is applied to a serial manipulator with two flexible links containing uncertain model parameters and acting in three-dimensional space.     

Stochastic optimal control of cable vibration in plane by using axial support motion

A stochastic optimal control strategy for a slightly sagged cable using support motion in the cable axial direction is proposed.The nonlinear equation of cable motion in plane is derived and reduced to the equations for the first two modes of cable vibration by using the Galerkin method.The partially averaged Ito equation for controlled system energy is further derived by applying the stochastic averaging method for quasi-non-integrable Hamiltonian systems.The dynamical programming equation for the controlled system energy with a performance index is established by applying the stochastic dynamical programming principle and a stochastic optimal control law is obtained through solving the dynamical programming equation.A bilinear controller by using the direct method of Lyapunov is introduced.The comparison between the two controllers shows that the proposed stochastic optimal control strategy is superior to the bilinear control strategy in terms of higher control effectiveness and efficiency.     

Optimal reorientation of underactuated spacecraft using genetic algorithm with wavelet approximation

The optimal attitude control of an underactuated spacecraft is investigated in this paper. The flywheels of the spacecraft can somehow only provide control inputs in two independent directions. The dynamic equations are formulated for the spacecraft under a nonholonomic constraint resulting from the constant time-rate of the total angular momentum of the system. The reorientation of such underactuated spacecraft is transformed into an optimal control problem. A genetic algorithm is proposed to derive the control laws of the two flywheels angle velocity inputs. The control laws are approximated by the discrete orthogonal wavelets. The numerical simulations indicate that the genetic algorithm with the wavelet approximation is an effective approach to deal with the optimal reorientation of underactuated spacecraft.     

Interval finite difference method for steady-state temperature field prediction with interval parameters

A new numerical technique named interval finite difference method is proposed for the steady-state temperature field prediction with uncertainties in both physical parameters and boundary conditions. Interval variables are used to quantitatively describe the uncertain parameters with limited information. Based on different Taylor and Neumann series, two kinds of parameter perturbation methods are presented to approximately yield the ranges of the uncertain temperature field. By comparing the results with traditional Monte Carlo simulation, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method for solving steady-state heat conduction problem with uncertain-but-bounded parameters.     

Frequency domain fundamental solutions for a poroelastic half-space

In frequency domain, the fundamental solutions for a poroelastic half-space are re-derived in the context of Biot＇s theory. Based on Biot＇s theory, the governing field equations for the dynamic poroelasicity are established in terms of solid displacement and pore pressure. A method of potentials in cylindrical coordinate system is proposed to decouple the homogeneous Biot＇s wave equations into four scalar Helmholtz equations, and the general solutions to these scalar wave equations are obtained. After that, spectral Green＇s functions for a poroelastic full-space are found through a decomposition of solid displacement, pore pressure, and body force fields. Mirror-image technique is then applied to construct the half-space fundamental solutions.Finally, transient responses of the half-space to buried point forces are examined.     

Synchronization of inferior olive neurons via {\mathcal {L}}_1 adaptive feedback

This paper considers the synchronization of inferior olive neurons based on the \({\mathcal {L}}_1\) adaptive control theory. The ION model treated here is the cascade connection of two nonlinear subsystems, termed ZW and UV subsystems. It is assumed that the structure of the nonlinear functions and certain parameters of the IONs are not known, and disturbance inputs are present in the system. First, an \({\mathcal {L}}_1\) adaptive control system is designed to achieve global synchrony of the ZW subsystems using a single control input. This controller can accomplish local synchrony of the UV subsystems if the linearized UV subsystem is exponentially stable. For global synchrony of the UV subsystems, an \({\mathcal {L}}_1\) adaptive control law is designed. Each of these controllers includes a state predictor, an update law, and a control law. In the closed-loop system, global synchrony of the complete models of the IONs (the interconnected ZW and UV subsystems) is accomplished using these two adaptive controllers. Simulations results show that in the closed-loop system, the IONs are synchronized, despite unmodeled nonlinearities, disturbance inputs, and parameter uncertainties in the system.     

Exact mesh shape design of large cable-network antenna reflectors with flexible ring truss supports

An exact-designed mesh shape with favorable surface accuracy is of practical significance to the performance of large cable-network antenna reflectors. In this study, a novel design approach that could guide the generation of exact spatial parabolic mesh configurations of such reflector was proposed. By incorporating the traditional force density method with the standard finite element method, this proposed approach had taken the deformation effects of flexible ring truss supports into consideration, and searched for the desired mesh shapes that can satisfy the requirement that all the free nodes are exactly located on the objective paraboloid. Compared with the conventional design method,a remarkable improvement of surface accuracy in the obtained mesh shapes had been demonstrated by numerical examples. The present work would provide a helpful technical reference for the mesh shape design of such cable-network antenna reflector in engineering practice.     

A meshfree-based local Galerkin method with condensation of degree of freedom for elastic dynamic analysis简

Condensation technique of degree of freedom is first proposed to improve the computational efficiency of meshfree method with Galerkin weak form for elastic dy- namic analysis. In the present method, scattered nodes with- out connectivity are divided into several subsets by cells with arbitrary shape. Local discrete equation is established over each cell by using moving Kriging interpolation, in which the nodes that located in the cell are used for approxima- tion. Then local discrete equations can be simplified by con- densation of degree of freedom, which transfers equations of inner nodes to equations of boundary nodes based on cells. The global dynamic system equations are obtained by as- sembling all local discrete equations and are solved by using the standard implicit Newmark＇s time integration scheme. In the scheme of present method, the calculation of each cell is carried out by meshfree method, and local search is imple- mented in interpolation. Numerical examples show that the present method has high computational efficiency and good accuracy in solving elastic dynamic problems.     

Size effect of lattice material and minimum weight design

The size effects of microstructure of lattice materials on structural analysis and minimum weight design are studied with extented multiscale finite element method（EMsFEM） in the paper. With the same volume of base material and configuration, the structural displacement and maximum axial stress of micro-rod of lattice structures with different sizes of microstructure are analyzed and compared.It is pointed out that different from the traditional mathematical homogenization method, EMsFEM is suitable for analyzing the structures which is constituted with lattice materials and composed of quantities of finite-sized micro-rods.The minimum weight design of structures composed of lattice material is studied with downscaling calculation of EMsFEM under stress constraints of micro-rods. The optimal design results show that the weight of the structure increases with the decrease of the size of basic sub-unit cells. The paper presents a new approach for analysis and optimization of lattice materials in complex engineering constructions.     

Coupled extension and thickness-twist vibrations of lateral field excited AT-cut quartz plates简

In this paper, the coupled extension and thickness- twist vibrations are studied for AT-cut quartz plates under Lateral Field Excitation （LFE） with variations along the x1- direction. Mindlin＇s two-dimensional equations are used for anisotropic crystal plates. Both free and electrically forced vibrations are considered. Important vibration characteristics are obtained, including dispersion relations, frequency spectra, and motional capacitances. It is shown that, to avoid the effects of the couplings between extension and thickness-twist vibrations, a series of discrete values of the length/thickness ratio of the crystal plate need to be excluded. The results are of fundamental significance for the design of LFE resonators and sensors.     

Vibration analysis of axisymmetric functionally graded viscothermoelastic spheres简

The present study focuses on the analysis of free vibrations of axisymmetric functionally graded hollow spheres. The material is assumed to be graded in radial di- rection with a simple power law. Matrix Frrbenious method of extended power series is employed to derive the analytical solutions for displacement, temperature, and stresses. The dispersion relations for the existence of various types of pos- sible modes of vibrations in the considered hollow sphere are derived in a compact form. In order to explore the character- istics of vibrations, the secular equations are further solved by using fixed point iteration numerical technique with the help of MATLAB software. The numerical results have been presented graphically for polymethyl methecrylate materials in respect of natural frequencies, frequency shift, inverse quality factor, displacement, temperature change, and radial stress.     

Stability analysis of a thin-walled cylinder in turning operation using the semi-discretization method

In this work, the stability of a flexible thin cylindrical workpiece in turning is analyzed. A process model is derived based on a finite element representation of the workpiece flexibility and a nonlinear cutting force law. Repeated cutting of the same surface due to overlapping cuts is modeled with the help of a time delay. The stability of the so obtained system of periodic delay differential equations is then determined using an approximation as a time-discrete system and Floquet theory. The time-discrete system is obtained using the semi-discretization method. The method is implemented to analyze the stability of two different workpiece models of different thicknesses for different tool positions with respect to the jaw end. It is shown that the stability chart depends on the tool position as well as on the thickness.     

A cellular scale numerical study of the effect of mechanical properties of erythrocytes on the near-wall motion of platelets

The effect of mechanical properties of erythrocytes on the near-wall motion of platelets was numerically studied with the immersed boundary method. Cells were modeled as viscous-fluid-filled capsules surrounded by hyper-elastic membranes with negligible thickness. The numerical results show that with the increase of hematocrit, the near-wall approaching of platelets is enhanced, with which platelets exhibit larger deformation and orientation angle of its near-wall tank-treading motion, and the lateral force pushing platelets to the wall is increased with larger fluctuation amplitude. Meanwhile the near-wall approaching is reduced by increasing the stiffness of erythrocytes.