Finite Element Analysis for Satellite Structures

Gasser F. Abdelal • Nader AbuelfoutouhAhmed H. Gad

Finite Element Analysisfor Satellite Structures

Applications to Their Design,Manufacture and Testing

123

Gasser F. AbdelalSchool of Mechanical and Aerospace

EngineeringQueen’s University BelfastBelfastNorthern Ireland, UK

Nader AbuelfoutouhAeronautical and Aerospace Engineering

Department—Faculty of EngineeringCairo UniversityCairoEgypt

Ahmed H. GadEgyptian Space Program,

National Authority for RemoteSensing and Space Sciences

CairoEgypt

ISBN 978-1-4471-4636-0 ISBN 978-1-4471-4637-7 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-4637-7Springer London Heidelberg New York Dordrecht

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012950393

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Preface

This book is about finite element analysis of spacecraft structures. I tried to reflectthe importance of numerical simulation not only in design stages but also inmanufacturing simulation and testing. This book covers a wide range of applica-tions using finite element method. This includes linear and nonlinear analysis,which makes this book very useful for many engineers in different areas and notonly in spacecraft structures design.

This book is the outcome of my academic and industrial experience. After I gotmy Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Structures and did a post doc at West VirginiaUniversity in USA, I got the chance to work with YUZHNOYE Design Office inUkraine through the Egyptian Space Program at NARSS; later I worked forBluewater Energy in Netherlands, then a consultant for a number of aerospace andmechanical companies in UK, while working for the Virtual Engineering Centre,University of Liverpool, UK. Currently, I work as a Lecturer in Aerospace andManufacturing, School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Queen’sUniversity in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. My research is in the area ofMultiscale modeling and manufacturing simulation, in an effort to produce betterproducts and reduce cost.

I would also like to thank my family, my father and Prof. Ever Barbero whoalways supported me.

I would like to express my gratitude to Allah and his prophets Moses, Jesus, andMuhammad, whose teachings have always guided me through all my life steps.

Gasser F. Abdelal

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Contents

1 Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 Structural Design Phases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Categories of Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.3 Previous Satellite Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.3.1 Conventional Structural Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.3.2 Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.3.3 Methods of Attachment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.4 Methods of Enhancing Structural Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.4.1 Sandwich Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.4.2 Multifunctional Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91.4.3 Isogrid Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2 Satellite Configuration Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.1 The Process of Configuring a Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.2 Mission Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152.3 Satellite Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152.4 Launch Vehicle Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162.5 Satellite Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172.6 Mounting Restrictions and Integration Constrains . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.6.1 Payload. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.6.2 Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem . . . . . . 212.6.3 Communications Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.6.4 Platform Command & Data Handling Subsystem. . . . . 232.6.5 Power Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232.6.6 Thermal Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.6.7 Structures and Mechanisms Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.6.8 Systems Aspects of the Satellite Configuration . . . . . . 25

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2.7 Configuration Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252.7.1 A Quick Look at On-Orbit Configuration . . . . . . . . . . 262.7.2 Packaging Envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272.7.3 Body Shape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272.7.4 Packaging Approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.7.5 Mechanical Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392.7.6 Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

2.8 Mass Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

3 Satellite Structural Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.1 Definition and Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.2 Structural Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

3.2.1 Primary Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503.2.2 Secondary Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513.2.3 Tertiary Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3.3 Design Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513.3.1 Used Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523.3.2 Developing Structural Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543.3.3 Iterative Process of Design Development . . . . . . . . . . 54

3.4 Preliminary Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553.4.1 Strength Analysis Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553.4.2 Design of Fastening Studs and Small Sat/LV

Interface Bolts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563.4.3 Preliminary Sizing of Structural Modules . . . . . . . . . . 60

3.5 Detailed Structure Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703.5.1 Base Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703.5.2 Mounting Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743.5.3 Basis Unit Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753.5.4 Upper Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763.5.5 Lower Frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773.5.6 Rotation Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773.5.7 Locking and Releasing Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783.5.8 Fastening and Mounting Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

3.6 Launch Vehicle Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

4 Strength Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834.1 Satellite Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844.2 Substructuring Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

4.2.1 Substructuring Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864.2.2 Employing Substructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

4.3 Model Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904.4 Material Model Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

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4.5 Modeling of Equipments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904.6 Connection between Superelement Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924.7 Finite-Element Models of Structural Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924.8 Global Finite-Element Model of Small Sat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 974.9 Static Strength Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

4.9.1 Definition of Static Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994.9.2 Small Sat Quasi-Static Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014.9.3 Performing a Static Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014.9.4 Static Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

4.10 Modal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1184.10.1 Definition of Modal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1194.10.2 Performing a Modal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1194.10.3 Modal Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

4.11 Harmonic Response Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234.11.1 Definition of Harmonic Response Analysis . . . . . . . . . 1274.11.2 Small Sat Dynamic Vibration Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1274.11.3 Performing Harmonic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1284.11.4 Harmonic Response Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

4.12 Fatigue Damage Calculations Due to Dynamic Vibrations . . . . 1354.12.1 Definition of Fatigue Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1354.12.2 Cumulative Fatigue Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1544.12.3 Performing a Fatigue Damage Calculation . . . . . . . . . 1554.12.4 Fatigue Damage Calculation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

4.13 Spectrum Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1724.13.1 Definition of Spectrum Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1744.13.2 Small Sat Random Vibration Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1764.13.3 Performing a Spectrum Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1764.13.4 PSD Spectrum Analysis Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

4.14 On-Orbit Thermal Deformation Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1854.14.1 Definition of On-Orbit Thermoelastic Analysis . . . . . . 1854.14.2 Performing an On-Orbit Thermoelastic Analysis . . . . . 1864.14.3 Thermal Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1904.14.4 On-Orbit Thermal Deformation Analysis Results . . . . . 190

4.15 Mounting Accuracy Due to On-Orbit Thermal Deformation . . . 1914.16 Fatigue Damage Calculation Due to On-Orbit Thermal

Cyclic Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

5 Stochastic Finite Element and Satellite Structure Design . . . . . . . . 2035.1 Introduction to Stochastic Finite Element Theory. . . . . . . . . . . 2035.2 First-Order Reliability Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2045.3 3D Beam Finite Element Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

5.3.1 Sensitivity-Based Approach with ClassicPerturbation (SFEA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

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5.4 Program Sensitivity-Based Analysis for Implicit PerformanceFunctions for 2-D Beam Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

5.5 Program Sensitivity-Based Analysis for Implicit PerformanceFunctions for 3D Beam Elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

5.6 Test Case-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2445.7 Test Case-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2475.8 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

6 Qualification Testing Phase of Satellite Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2516.1 Static Test Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

6.1.1 Test Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2536.1.2 Test Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2536.1.3 Test Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2556.1.4 Test Conditions Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

6.2 Dynamic Test Specification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2586.2.1 Test Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2586.2.2 Test Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2586.2.3 Test Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2596.2.4 Environmental Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2606.2.5 Shock Tests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2626.2.6 Functional Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

6.3 Test Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

7 Manufacturing Simulation Using Finite Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2717.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2717.2 Electromagnetic Riveting Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

7.2.1 Finite Element Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2727.2.2 Test Case 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2827.2.3 Test Case 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

7.3 Shot Peening Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2877.3.1 Finite Element Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2887.3.2 Test Case-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2987.3.3 Test Case-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

7.4 Material Removal Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3027.4.1 Finite Element Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3057.4.2 Test Case-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Appendix A: Satellite Mechanical Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Appendix B: Load Analysis for Base-Driven Random Vibrations . . . . 331

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