Abstract:There are still lots of joint clearances that cannot be eliminated for large-scale flexible spacecraft in post-lock phase. Joint clearance directly affects the attitude maneuver of the flexible spacecraft as well as the pointing accuracy and stability of the payload, which has a great influence on the dynamic characteristics of the spacecraft. Aiming at this issue, a dynamic modelling and control method for the rigid-flexible coupling spacecraft with joint clearance is proposed in this paper. The accurate dynamic model of the joint with clearance is established firstly, thus the dynamic model of flexible structure with joint clearances is built. Then the discrete rigid-flexible coupling nonlinear dynamic model of the spacecraft with clearances is obtained by Hamilton principle and modal discrete method. The Newmark algorithm is used to solve the nonlinear equation. Based on macro fiber composite (MFC) actuator, the rigid-flexible-electrical coupling dynamic equation of the spacecraft is obtained and the control law is designed by the optimum control. The influences of joint parameters, moment of inertia of central rigid body, clearance size and clearance number on the dynamic characteristics of the spacecraft are analyzed. The effects of joint clearance on the attitude maneuver and structural vibration of the spacecraft are emphatically studied. Finally, the active control is applied to the spacecraft using MFC actuator. The results reveal that the joint parameters and moment of inertia of the central rigid body affect the natural frequency of the spacecraft. With the increase of the size of joint clearance and number of clearances, the overall stiffness of the spacecraft decreases gradually, while the attitude angle and vibration displacement response of the spacecraft increase. Through the active control based on MFC, the cooperative control of the attitude maneuver and structural vibration of the spacecraft with clearance can be realized, and the effects of clearance on the dynamic characteristics of the spacecraft can be alleviated.