Micro-vibration model and parameter estimation method of a reaction wheel assembly

Reaction wheel assemblies (RWAs) are a source of disturbance in satellites, and they are regarded as the largest jitter contributor in optical payloads. In order to ensure a stringent jitter requirement, the wheel disturbance effects on spacecraft should be predicted precisely prior to launch through analytical or experimental approaches. For this purpose, the wheel disturbance should be identified and modeled accurately. In the present study, a micro-vibration model of the RWA is introduced through coupling an analytical wheel model and an empirical disturbance model; furthermore, a parameter estimation process of the coupled model from the micro-vibration disturbance data is proposed. In order to verify the modeling and estimation techniques, a micro-vibration model of a numerical RWA is established and its estimation error is validated. Then, the micro-vibration model is extended to consider an axial disturbance and a measurement offset effect. Finally, the micro-vibration model is applied to a commercial RWA and the model parameters are extracted from the disturbance test data of the RWA using the parameter estimation process. The analytical and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed micro-vibration model and parameter estimation process are effective in the dynamic disturbance modeling of RWAs.