DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF SPACE-BASED INFLATED BEAM STRUCTURES

This paper examines the dynamic behaviors of inflated beam aerospace structures. The principal foci of this investigation are the determination of the damping mechanisms active in structures constructed from inflated cylindrical beams, development of a practical modeling method for complex structures, and an examination of the difficulties in predicting on‐orbit dynamic behavior from ground tests. A Euler–Bernoulli model of the inflated beam is used to determine distributed damping coefficients from modal tests. The results show that the viscous damping in the inflated beam is independent of beam pressure, but that the pressurization stress levels in the beam fabric affect the strain‐rate damping. The Euler–Bernoulli inflated beam model is used in conjunction with a conventional finite element package to model the dynamic behavior of a complex inflated beam structure, a 1.7‐m‐diam inflated dish antenna mockup. The model accurately predicts the lower natural frequencies of the dish structure. A comparison ...