The equations of motion of a tethered satellite system are highly nonlinear and should possess many interesting related features; yet its nonlinear dynamics has never been thoroughly investigated in previous works. This thesis analyzes the nonlinear dynamics of two-body tethered satellite systems using numerical tools of analysis such as phase plane plots, power spectral densities (PSD's), Poincare sections and first Lyapunov exponents, as well as approximate analytical methods including the method of Melnikov. Motion in the stationkeeping phase wherein the tethered system is just a gravity gradient pendulum is studied, first considering pitch motion only, and then considering the coupled pitch and roll motions. The deployment/retrieval phases are studied next. For a circular orbit, pitch stability is examined for varying exponential length rates; for the unstable cases, it is compared to an equivalent uniform length rate scheme, which showed better stability behaviour. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.27246 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Nixon, Melina S. |
| Contributors | Misra, A. K. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Engineering (Department of Mechanical Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001571068, proquestno: MQ29619, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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