An analysis of spacecraft dynamic testing at the vehicle level
Loading...
Authors
Scott, Alan D.
Subjects
Dynamics testing
Vibration testing
Spacecraft testing
Test effectiveness
Vibration testing
Spacecraft testing
Test effectiveness
Advisors
Agrawal, Brij N.
Date of Issue
1996-06
Date
June 1996
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
en_US
Abstract
The US space industry has accumulated a vast amount of expertise in the testing of spacecraft to ensure these vehicles can endure the harsh environments associated with launch and on-orbit operations. Even with this corporate experience, there remains a wide variation in the techniques utilized to test spacecraft during the development and manufacturing process, particularly with regard to spacecraft level dynamics testing. This study investigates the effectiveness of sinusoidal vibration, random vibration, acoustic noise and transient methods of spacecraft dynamic testing. An analysis of test failure and on-orbit performance data for acceptance testing indicates that the acoustic test is the most perceptive workmanship screen at the vehicle level and that additional dynamics tests do not result in an increase in acceptance test effectiveness. For spacecraft qualification, acoustic testing is almost universally employed for qualification in the high frequency environment. For the low frequency environment, data collected from a variety of spacecraft test programs employing sinusoidal sweep, random vibration and transient testing methods shows that a transient base excitation provides the most accurate simulation for the purpose of design verification. Furthermore, data shows that sinusoidal vibration testing provides an unrealistic simulation of the flight environment and results in an increased potential for overtesting.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
121 p.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.