A precise force model is of vital importance for dynamics and control of solar sails. Among various factors, deviations from the ideal flat sails, elastic deformations of the sails, are really important as most solar ...A precise force model is of vital importance for dynamics and control of solar sails. Among various factors, deviations from the ideal flat sails, elastic deformations of the sails, are really important as most solar sails are large flexible membranes. In this study, the deformed sails are modeled as smooth curved surfaces and a general total force model (GTFM) for the deformed sails is proposed. Various simplified versions of this GTFM are also derived for the symmetric deformation cases. Furthermore, differences between the ideal force models and our precise GTFM are investigated. The numerical results demonstrate that both the previous ideal reflected model and flat optical model are not as satisfactory as claimed before, by contrast with the actual dynamics from the GTFM. Thus this work paves the way for sail craft's precise navigation where exact forces are needed.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10902056 and 10832004)
文摘A precise force model is of vital importance for dynamics and control of solar sails. Among various factors, deviations from the ideal flat sails, elastic deformations of the sails, are really important as most solar sails are large flexible membranes. In this study, the deformed sails are modeled as smooth curved surfaces and a general total force model (GTFM) for the deformed sails is proposed. Various simplified versions of this GTFM are also derived for the symmetric deformation cases. Furthermore, differences between the ideal force models and our precise GTFM are investigated. The numerical results demonstrate that both the previous ideal reflected model and flat optical model are not as satisfactory as claimed before, by contrast with the actual dynamics from the GTFM. Thus this work paves the way for sail craft's precise navigation where exact forces are needed.
