Damper saturation effects on nutation

Abstract Saturation of a nutation damper carried by one of an ensemble of bodies (stack) in a relative angular motion around a common symmetry axis is investigated analytically. Formulae for the nutation angle rate are found for weak and strong saturation, applicable both to “axial” and “tangential” dampers. One of the results is that, under certain conditions, a saturated—i.e. a shorter and thus lighter—damper is more effective than an unsaturated damper.