Structural Dynamics and Attitude Control of a Solar Sail Using Tip Vanes

This paper delves into the structural and attitude dynamics of a cord-mat square solar sail being controlled by two-degree-of-freedom tip-vane actuation. The paper's main goal is to simulate and analyze the behavior of a solar sail under a tip-vane attitude control scheme using a geometrically nonlinear elastic finite element method model of the sail. The controller/structural interaction is of particular interest, as the control solution of the two-degree-of-freedom tip-vane actuation is based on a flat, inflexible sail. The sail structure is further augmented by a wrinkling model for handling the membranes under negative strain. The model is further augmented by the disturbance forces produced by the reflective sail membrane itself. A combined, dynamic simulation of all of the aforementioned are performed to analyze the performance of the control system as a whole.