Experimental Validation of an Integrated Controls-Structures Design Methodology for a Class of Flexi

This paper describes the first experimental validation of an optimization-based integrated controls-structures design methodology for a class of flexible space structures. The Controls-Structures-Interaction (CSI) Evolutionary Model, a laboratory testbed at Langley, is redesigned based on the integrated design methodology with two different dissipatire control strategies. The redesigned structure is fabricated, assembled in the laboratory, and experimentally compared with the original test structure. Design guides are proposed and used in the integrated design process to ensure that the resulting structure can be fabricated. Experimental results indicate that the integrated design requires > 60 percent less average control power (by thruster actuators.) than the conventional control-optimized design while maintaining the required line-of-sight performance, thereby confirming the analytical findings about the superiority of the integrated design methodology. Amenability of the integrated design structure to other control strategies is considered and evaluated analytically and experimentally. This work also demonstrates the capabilities of the Langley-developed design tool CSI-DESIGN, which provides a unified environment for structural and control design.