端末推力を受ける自由・自由はりの安定性へ及ぼす内部減衰の効果

抄録

The paper deals with the stability of a flexible space structure propelled in space from the assembly station to a maneuvering point by means of an end thrust. The structure is idealized as a uniform viscoelastic free-free beam with a direction-controlled follower force. Both divergence and flutter instabilities occur depending on the manner of control. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the important effect of internal damping on flutter instability of the beam. It is shown that the flutter value predicted by neglecting the damping in the stability analysis is significantly higher than the value obtained by taking small material damping into account. It is concluded that the stability of a flexible space structure propelled by an end thrust should be investigated by considering viscous internal damping which is inevitably involved in the actual flexible structures, even to a small degree.