Modelling of sloshing modulated angular momentum fluctuations actuated by gravity gradient associated with spacecraft slew motion

• Published in: Applied mathematical modelling Vol. 20; no. 5; pp. 399 - 409
• Main Authors: Hung, R.J., Pan, H.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 1996; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: angular momentum; Astronomy; Celestial mechanics (including n-body problems); cryogenic helium; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental astronomy; Fundamental astronomy and astrophysics. Instrumentation, techniques, and astronomical observations; gravity gradient; sloshing dynamics; spacecraft slew motion; cryogenic helium; angular momentum; gravity gradient; spacecraft slew motion; sloshing dynamics; Fluctuations; Gradient; Helium 2; Angular momentum; Spacecraft; Liquid helium; Cryogenic fluids; Gravity
• ISSN: 0307-904X
• DOI: 10.1016/0307-904X(95)00159-H

The mathematical formulation of orbital spacecraft sloshing dynamics for a partially filled cryogenic superfluid liquid helium II in a dewar container actuated by the gravity gradient acceleration associated with slew motion is studied. The Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility-Spectroscopy (AXAF-S) spacecraft is chosen as a practical example in this study. Explicit mathematical expressions that manage orbital gravity gradient acceleration associated with the slew motion that is acting on the spacecraft fluid systems are derived. The numerical computation of sloshing dynamics is based on the noninertial frame spacecraft-bound coordinates and the solution of time-dependent three-dimensional formulations of partial differential equations subject to initial and boundary conditions. This study discloses the capillary effect of sloshing dynamics governed liquid-vapor interface fluctuations, angular momentum and moment fluctuations of fluid system, and also bubble mass center fluctuations driven by the gravity gradient acceleration associated with slew motion which affects the stability of the orbital spacecraft fluid system in a microgravity environment.