Theoretical analysis of spacecraft vibration control with a ball-in-track nonlinear energy sink (BIT-NES)
Spacecraft are exposed to severe vibrations during the launching phase. Different vibration absorbers are used to reduce these vibrations, which can lead to failure for the whole mission. Nonlinear energy sinks (NESs) are effective passive devices for mitigating broadband vibration without changing the system characteristics or requiring continuous tuning. This paper proposes a novel application for a ball-in-track nonlinear energy sink (BIT-NES) coupled with a single-degree-of-freedom spacecraft model subjected to lateral harmonic base excitation. A developed two degree of freedom mathematical model simulates the dynamics of a spacecraft coupled with a BIT-NES, demonstrating its effect on the vibration suppression for spacecraft during launching phase. The steady-state response is obtained analytically using the Harmonic Balance Method (HBM) up to the third harmonic for nonlinear terms which are main terms in the model and is verified against numerical time-domain integration using the ODE45 solver. The agreement between the analytical and numerical results verifies the proposed mathematical model. This model is used in parametric studies to show the effect of varying BIT-NES main parameters on vibration mitigation for aerospace applications. Changing the mean track radius reduces spacecraft vibration amplitudes by 45%, while NES mass variation results in a 41% reduction in vibration amplitude, indicating the robustness of this passive vibration absorber in aerospace applications.