Sensitivity of internal disturbances of a panel structure comprising a rotor to variations of lumped masses
Spacecraft internal disturbances are forced vibrations of high-precision devices such as cameras, telescopes, aiming devices, etc. under the action of centrifugal forces generated in the rotor bearing (control-system flywheel) with standard residual unbalance. The accuracy of attitude-control systems of Earth remote sensing satellites and interplanetary space vehicles is required to be several seconds of arc. In this case, the standard residual unbalance of the rotor may cause unacceptable disturbances. Traditionally, they are damped using special active and passive rotor supports. The paper shows that choosing appropriate lumped masses of a spacecraft may help solve the problem. The sensitivity of internal disturbances to variations of lumped masses is analyzed. It is found that increasing the angular velocity of the rotor may significantly change the influence of variations of lumped masses.