ABSTRACT
Tsuchiya [1], Lukin and Mingori [2] and Mingori [3], amongst others, studied the stability behaviour of dual spin spacecraft taking into account the rotor and platform asymmetry as well as the energy dissipation in the dampers and the joints in their dynamic models. The method of analysis had been primarily based on either the Roquet theory or on the method of averaging. Viderman, Rimrott and Cleghom [4] investigated the stability of a general dual-spin spacecraft composed of an asymmetric rigid rotor and a flexible platform. In this study, a numerical method based on Roquet theory and Hsu’s numerical scheme, and a perturbation method based on the method of multiple time scales were employed. Agrawal [5] developed models that describe the dynamics of a dual spin spacecraft more accurately and used Hsu’s method to establish the stability conditions. Recently, Asokanthan and Van Doom [6] employed the method of averaging to establish approximate analytical stability conditions. Also, a numerical scheme based on Roquet theory was employed to determine stability conditions more accurately. In all of the above studies, the rotor speed has been assumed to be constant. However, in many practical situations, operating speed will be subject to a small intensity random fluctuation that originates from a motor. The intent of the present paper is to incorporate such a fluctuation and examine the effect of this fluctuation on the instability behaviour.
