Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published January 2016 | Submitted
Book Section - Chapter Open

Membrane Spin Up in a Normal Gravity Field: Experiments and Simulations

Abstract

Finite element simulations and experimental observations of the spin up in vacuum of a thin membrane loaded by gravity are presented. The numerical techniques take into account the run time of each simulation and energy convergence; it is shown that accurate results can be obtained quite quickly in a rotating reference frame, and that including stiffness-proportional material damping helps convergence of the integration. It is also found that a very fine finite element mesh around the hub of the membrane is required to obtain consistent results. The experimental setup allows spinning of the membrane in a vacuum box; a measurement technique that uses stereo Digital Image Correlation is presented. A comparison between experiments and simulations using characteristic parameters of the shape of a membrane, i.e. the number of rotational symmetric waves, the average deflection, and the elastic bending strain energy of the membrane, shows good agreement between experiments and simulations.

Additional Information

© 2016 AIAA. We thank Professor Sigrid Leyendecker and Tristan Schlogl for helpful discussions and advice. Financial support from the Northrop Grumman Corporation is gratefully acknowledged.

Attached Files

Submitted - Membrane_spinup_SciTech2016_NEW.pdf

Files

Membrane_spinup_SciTech2016_NEW.pdf
Files (1.3 MB)
Name Size Download all
md5:ef8364dfa1585c8f058688907b6d54d9
1.3 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 20, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023