Active Payload Adapter for Ariane 5

Paper number

IAC-05-C2.4.02

Author

Dr. Andreas Rittweger, EADS Astrium Space Transportation, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Hans-Georg Beig, EADS Astrium, Germany

Coauthor

Dr.-Ing. Peter Konstanzer, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Rafael Bureo Dacal, European Space Agency (ESA)/ESTEC, The Netherlands

Year

2005

Abstract

The paper presents the preliminary development of an active payload adapter for Ariane 5 and other launchers, able to reduce consequently the vibration below 100Hz by more than a factor 4. The active payload adaptor is thought to replace the conventional passive payload adaptors, which are for instance conical CFRP shell structures. The concept is a truss structure with 24 active struts in the load path using piezo-ceramics as actuator. The struts are dimensioned according to Ariane5 loads and environment. The proposed concept includes the electrical layout (electrical power, storage, amplification etc.) and the overall mass impact of the active system.

Dynamic launcher analyses were performed taking into account the feedback of the control law (dynamic closed loop simulations) to determine the robustness and performance of the control concept.
The launcher dynamic closed loop analyses presented in the paper take into consideration different payload configurations and typical forcing functions at lift off and ascent. The control law is based on the dynamic isolation concept taking into account sufficient margins for stability. It is demonstrated that a performance of more than 12 dB attenuation can be reached taking into account realistic effects like time delay, measurement noise or uncertainties in model parameters. With help of parametric studies the feedback gains of the controller have been found and optimized maintaining stability and demonstrating robustness. This demonstrates as well the reliability of the system that will be validated in detail in future studies.

A demonstrator strut in original size has been manufactured and assembled for dynamic testing in order to validate strut passive and active characteristics and to verify basically (1-dimensional) the control concept by test. The test results will be presented. 

Abstract document

IAC-05-C2.4.02.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-05-C2.4.02.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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