Publications

Cable effects on the dynamics of large precision structures

Robertson, Lawrence M.; Lane, Steven A.; Ingram, Brea R.; Hansen, Eric J.; Babuska, Vit B.; Goodding, James; Mimovich, Mark; Mehle, Gregory; Coombs, Doug; Ardelean, Emil V.

A top level overview of the effect cables have on the dynamic response of precision structures is presented. The focus of this paper is on precision, low-damping, low-first modal frequency space structures where cables are not implicitly designed to be in the load path. The paper presents the top-level, Phase I results which include pathfinder tests, an industry/government/academia survey, modeling and testing of individual cable bundles, and modeling and testing of cables on a simple structure. The end goal is to discover a set of practical approaches for updating well defined dynamical models of cableless structures. Knowledge of the cable type, position and tie-down method is assumed to be known. Simulation sensitivity analysis of the effect cables have on a precision structure has also been completed. Each section of the paper will focus on the details of each area.