Experimental measurement of picometer scale spontaneous vibrations in a precision deployable boom under thermal loading

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Silver, Mark J. | Peterson, Lee D. | Hardaway, Lisa M.R.

Affiliations: Structures and Transportation Group, Foster-Miller Inc., Waltham, MA, USA | University of Colorado, Center for Aerospace Structures, Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, Boulder, CO, USA | Ball Aerospace, Boulder, CO, USA

Note: [] Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 781 684 4031; Fax: +1 781 684 4410; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: This paper reports observations and analysis of picometer scale spontaneous vibrations in a precision deployable boom under thermal loading. The structural test article is a deployable boom previously flown in space. It exhibited spontaneous vibrations during the temperature rise following a night to day transition on orbit. In an attempt to reproduce the spontaneous vibrations on the ground, the test article was thermally loaded within a mechanically stabilized test environment. Spontaneous vibrations were induced in these ground experiments. The vibrations were at a scale of motion for which current theories would not expect such a release. The amplitudes of these vibrations were on the order of a few dozen picometers, and the frequency was near 1500 Hz. Evidence of wave dispersion was detected in the vibrations.

Journal: Shock and Vibration, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 133-149, 2007