STABILITY OF A SPINNING LIQUID-FILLED SPACECRAFT

The stability of a spinning liquid-filled spacecraft has been investig ated in the present paper. Using Galerkin's method, the attitude dynam ic equations have been given. The Liapunov direct method was employed to obtain a sufficient condition for stability. Three kinds of charact eristic medals were investigated: free motion of inviscid fluid, slosh motion and non-slosh motion. All characteristic problems can be solve d numerically by the Finite Element Method or the Boundary Element Met hod. It has been demonstrated that the viscosity of the fluid has a di ssipative effect at large Reynolds number, while the slosh motion play s a destabilizing role. The non-slosh model of fluid does not affect t he stability criterion.