Dynamic analysis of the spacecraft structure on orbit made up of honeycomb sandwich plates

The honeycomb sandwich plate is applied widely in the modern spacecraft design because of its excellent capability. When the dynamic analysis of the spacecraft structure made up of the honeycomb sandwich plates is performed in ANSYS, the equivalent parameters of the honeycomb sandwich plates have to be identified. Now there have been three equivalent methods, that is called the sandwich theory, the equivalent-plate theory and the honeycomb-plate theory. In this paper these three equivalent methods are studied through a numerical example. The computational results show that the honeycomb-plate theory is the most suitable method to simplify the spacecraft structure. Based on the conclusion, the spacecraft structure is simplified by using the honeycomb-plate theory and the finite element model is established. And then modal analysis and harmonic response analysis of the spacecraft structure are performed. All of the analysis results can accommodate bases for structural design and optimum design of the spacecraft structure.