Verification of large beam-type space structures

This paper describes the verification approach of large beam-type space structures. The proposed verification approach consists of two parts. The first is to remove the gravity effect on the tested substructure and to identify the on-orbit dynamic characteristics of the substructure by using the measurements of the ground test. A scaling law is also established to define the critical length of the structure that can be tested in 1 g field without incurring a buckling problem. The second part is to develop an adequate scaling law to extrapolate the dynamic characteristics of the prototype structure by using results from the substructure. The verification approaches are demonstrated on two typical structural configurations: the feed support structure of a wrap-rip antenna and a candidate Shuttle flight experiment. The results indicate that it is practical to verify the on-orbit dynamic characteristics of these structures by using the proposed approach. Nomenclature A = cross-sectional area of a simple beam Ab, Ad, A;= cross-sectional area of batten, diagonal, and longeron, respectively b = length of batten C = corrected constant due to shear effect d = length of diagonal