Author:

Keywords:

Science & Technology, Technology, Engineering, Mechanical, Engineering, 1S65617N#54051933

Abstract:

© Proceedings of ISMA 2018 - International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering and USD 2018 - International Conference on Uncertainty in Structural Dynamics. All rights reserved. Reaction wheels are considered to be the largest contributors of vibrations on board a spacecraft. In order to estimate the effect on the pointing stability, the reaction wheel micro-vibrations have to be characterized first. In this paper, the micro-vibrations of two of the reaction wheels designed and developed at the KU Leuven, are modelled and tested. The micro-vibration model allows to predict the resonance modes of the reaction wheel assembly and the imbalances. These characteristics can then be verified by a dedicated micro-vibration test. The results of the micro-vibration tests showed that one of the wheels has a significant misalignment and a loose part in the assembly, while the other wheel showed the expected first harmonic to have the largest amplitude due to imbalances. The resonance modes were difficult to identify in the applied wheel speed range; therefore some additional tests are planned to increase the accuracy of the measurements.