28,581 research outputs found
Controllability of inherently damped large flexible space structures
Graph theoretic techniques are used to study controllability of linear systems which represent large flexible orbiting space systems with inherent damping. The controllability of the pair of matrices representing the system state and control influence matrices is assured when all states in the model are reachable in a digraph sense from at least one input and also when the term rank of a Boolean matrix whose non trivial components are based on the state and control influence matrices has a term rank of the order of the state vector. The damping matrix does not influence the required number of actuators but gives flexibility to the possibility locations of the actuators for which the system is controllable
The dynamics and control of large flexible space structures, 2. Part A: Shape and orientation control using point actuators
The equations of planar motion for a flexible beam in orbit which includes the effects of gravity gradient torques and control torques from point actuators located along the beam was developed. Two classes of theorems are applied to the linearized form of these equations to establish necessary conditions for controlability for preselected actuator configurations. The feedback gains are selected: (1) based on the decoupling of the original coordinates and to obtain proper damping, and (2) by applying the linear regulator problem to the individual model coordinates separately. The linear control laws obtained using both techniques were evaluated by numerical integration of the nonlinear system equations. Numerical examples considering pitch and various number of modes with different combination of actuator numbers and locations are presented. The independent model control concept used earlier with a discretized model of the thin beam in orbit was reviewed for the case where the number of actuators is less than the number of modes. Results indicate that although the system is controllable it is not stable about the nominal (local vertical) orientation when the control is based on modal decoupling. An alternate control law not based on modal decoupling ensures stability of all the modes
On the shape and orientation control of an orbiting shallow spherical shell structure
The dynamics of orbiting shallow flexible spherical shell structures under the influence of control actuators was studied. Control laws are developed to provide both attitude and shape control of the structure. The elastic modal frequencies for the fundamental and lower modes are closely grouped due to the effect of the shell curvature. The shell is gravity stabilized by a spring loaded dumbbell type damper attached at its apex. Control laws are developed based on the pole clustering techniques. Savings in fuel consumption can be realized by using the hybrid shell dumbbell system together with point actuators. It is indicated that instability may result by not including the orbital and first order gravity gradient effects in the plant prior to control law design
On the shape and orientation control of an orbiting shallow spherical shell structure
A proposed method for controlling the shape and orientation of very large shallow dish type receiver/reflectors to be used in communication, radiometry and in electronic orbital based mail systems involves connecting a rigid light weight dumbell with heavy tip masses to the shell at its apex by a spring loaded double gimballed joint with dampling. To completely damp the system transient motion in all of the important lower frequency modes, an active control system is required. A mathematical model is extended to include the effects of point actuators located at preselected positions on the shell surface. The formulation of the uncontrolled dynamics assumes an a priori knowledge of the frequencies of all the elastic modes to be incorporated within the system model. As an example, three rigid body modes and six elastic modes are included in the model and six actuators are assumed, none of which lies on a nodal line or circle
Stability analysis of large space structure control systems with delayed input
Large space structural systems, due to their inherent flexibility and low mass to area ratio, are represented by large dimensional mathematical models. For implementation of the control laws for such systems a finite amount of time is required to evaluate the control signals; and this time delay may cause instability in the closed loop control system that was previously designed without taking the input delay into consideration. The stability analysis of a simple harmonic oscillator representing the equation of a single mode as a function of delay time is treated analytically and verified numerically. The effect of inherent damping on the delay is also analyzed. The control problem with delayed input is also formulated in the discrete time domain
Using bijective maps to improve free energy estimates
We derive a fluctuation theorem for generalized work distributions, related
to bijective mappings of the phase spaces of two physical systems, and use it
to derive a two-sided constraint maximum likelihood estimator of their free
energy difference which uses samples from the equilibrium configurations of
both systems. As an application, we evaluate the chemical potential of a dense
Lennard-Jones fluid and study the construction and performance of suitable
maps.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figure
On the ground state of gapless two flavor color superconductors
This paper is devoted to the study of some aspects of the instability of two
flavor color superconductive quark matter. We find that, beside color
condensates, the Goldstone boson related to the breaking of suffers of
a velocity instability. We relate this wrong sign problem, which implies the
existence of a Goldstone current in the ground state or of gluonic
condensation, to the negative squared Meissner mass of the gluon in
the g2SC phase. Moreover we investigate the Meissner masses of the gluons and
the squared velocity of the Goldstone in the multiple plane wave LOFF states,
arguing that in such phases both the chromo-magnetic instability and the
velocity instability are most probably removed. We also do not expect Higgs
instability in such multiple plane wave LOFF. The true vacuum of gapless two
flavor superconductors is thus expected to be a multiple plane wave LOFF state.Comment: 16 pages, RevTe3X4 styl
Contact stress analysis of spiral bevel gears using nonlinear finite element static analysis
A procedure is presented for performing three-dimensional stress analysis of spiral bevel gears in mesh using the finite element method. The procedure involves generating a finite element model by solving equations that identify tooth surface coordinates. Coordinate transformations are used to orientate the gear and pinion for gear meshing. Contact boundary conditions are simulated with gap elements. A solution technique for correct orientation of the gap elements is given. Example models and results are presented
The equation of state of neutron matter, symmetry energy, and neutron star structure
We review the calculation of the equation of state of pure neutron matter
using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods. QMC algorithms permit the study of
many-body nuclear systems using realistic two- and three-body forces in a
nonperturbative framework. We present the results for the equation of state of
neutron matter, and focus on the role of three-neutron forces at supranuclear
density. We discuss the correlation between the symmetry energy, the neutron
star radius and the symmetry energy. We also combine QMC and theoretical models
of the three-nucleon interactions, and recent neutron star observations to
constrain the value of the symmetry energy and its density dependence.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure
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