Accurate dynamic modeling of detumbling rotating satellites with large flexible solar panels

Stabilizing a malfunctioning satellite to a low rotating speed is required to ensure safe capture. The detumbling method based on a flexible contactor is efficient and safe due to its relatively large operating force and soft contact. However, flexible components of the target such as the long solar panel will deform large under this intense external force, which makes accurate modeling and analysis of the detumbling process particularly challenging. In this paper, the dynamic problem of detumbling a rotating satellite with large-deformation solar panels is first studied. The target satellite is accurately modeled via global frame approaches, where the new visco-elastic thin plate element of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation is proposed to describe the solar panels. Then the contact model is built based on the geometric relation between the flexible contactor and the solar panel. Finally, dynamic performances during detumbling are compared between flexible and rigid targets, and the detumbling process of the highly flexible satellite is analyzed. All simulation results show that the flexibility of the target should be considered carefully in contact detumbling tasks.