Numerical simulation of rigid-flexible coupled dynamics for an inflatable sphere deorbiting device

Inflatable spheres can be applied to the aerodynamic drag deorbiting device for satellites. It may bring about a complicated dynamic problem under the disturbance from the lightweight large-volume inflatable sphere to the satellite. In order to explore this problem, rigidflexible coupled dynamics behaviors of satellite-sphere system during inflating process are numerically studied in this paper. The folding pattern of inflatable sphere is designed to obtain the parametric model in the folded state. The dynamic analysis model of this system is established to analyze dynamic behaviors, including the dynamics of the satellite-sphere system, the gas state of the airbag and the disturbance to the satellite, during the inflating process. Parameter effects on the attitude disturbance are studied. The results show that the satellite mass, inflating mass rate and control torque have a great impact on the attitude disturbance. These works provide theoretical bases and technical supports for the engineering development of inflatable sphere deorbiting devices.