Abstract The deformation of the solar-sail membrane is an important factor for causing inaccuracies in the solar-sail missions. This paper describes the solar sail under deformation by using a new modelling technique based on point cloud and triangular mesh generation. Two types of deformation, stemming from wrinkling and billowing, are modelled. The changes in the solar radiation pressure force and the moment caused by deformation are calculated and compared to the ideal non-deformed case. The heliocentric spiral trajectory and the orbital angular momentum reversal trajectory are taken as examples to quantify the influence of the deformation from an orbit point of view. Additionally, point cloud simplification, based on the normal vector and bounding box, is utilized to simplify the original deformed-sail model. It involves a reasonable reduction and renewal of the points in the model considering the variation of surface curvature. The simplification and its modelling accuracy are numerically investigated as well as computational efficiency.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Analysis of the solar sail deformation based on the point cloud method


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Advances in Space Research ; 67 , 9 ; 2613-2627


    Publication date :

    2020-05-06


    Size :

    15 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Solar Sail Attitude Dynamics Considering Sail Deformation (AAS 13-759)

    Chujo, T. / Tsuda, Y. / Kawaguchi, J. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2014


    ISS-Based Solar Sail Deployment Experiment “BMSTU-Sail”

    Mayorova, Vera / Popov, Alexander / Nerovnyy, Nikolay et al. | Springer Verlag | 2014


    SOLAR SAIL AND SOLAR SAIL SPACECRAFT USING THE SAME

    NAGAI MASATAKA | European Patent Office | 2016

    Free access

    Spacecraft solar sail processing method and solar sail

    REN ZHONGJING / LI CHENGYANG / XIE KECAI et al. | European Patent Office | 2023

    Free access

    Solar Sail Propulsion

    Johnson, Les | NTRS | 2018