Microvibration in spacecraft

Abstract

The limitation of technology to estimate the on-orbit microvibration of a spacecraft is shown in this review paper. At present, the mechanical engineering ability cannot meet the mission requirements and the configuration of the pre-flight ground tests is far from the on-orbit configuration from the microvibration point of view. It is also extremely difficult to correlate the mathematical dynamical model (Finite Element Model (FEM)) exactly to test data up to the mid-frequency range where microvibration can be problematic even if considerable manpower is committed to analyze the correlation. Accordingly, a safety factor of at least single digit range must be introduced as part of disturbance control management.