REACTION WHEEL

Assignment

HAMMAD MISBAH UDDIN

ME 1163

Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................ 2
Principle...................................................................................................................... 3
Limitations.................................................................................................................. 4
Use............................................................................................................................. 4
................................................................................................................................... 6
Components............................................................................................................... 7
Specialties.................................................................................................................. 7
Development Tests..................................................................................................... 8
References................................................................................................................ 10

Introduction

Attitude control is controlling the orientation of an object with respect

to an inertial frame of reference or another entity (the celestial sphere,
certain fields, nearby objects, etc.).
Controlling

vehicle

attitude

requires sensors to

measure

vehicle

orientation, actuators to apply the torques needed to re-orient the vehicle

to a desired attitude, and algorithms to command the actuators based on
(1) sensor measurements of the current attitude and (2) specification of
a desired attitude.
The integrated field that studies the combination of sensors, actuators
and algorithms is called "Guidance, Navigation and Control" (GNC).

Attitude control can be achieved by either of the following:1) Reaction wheels

2) Thrusters
3) Thrust vectoring nozzles (Flexi nozzles)

Sensors
Flux gate magnetometer
Alternating current passed through one coil
Perm
alloy
core
alternately
magnetized
by
electromagnetic field
Corresponding magnetic field sensed by second coil
Distortion of oscillating field is a measure of one
component of the Earths magnetic field
Three magnetometers required

Sun sensor
Transparent block of material with known refractive index(n), coated with
opaque material

Slit etched in top, receptive areas etched in bottom

Light from sun passing through slit forms a line over photodetectors

Other sensors
Dual sensor
Earth horizon sensor

Reaction Wheel
A reaction wheel (RW) is a type of flywheel used primarily
by spacecraft for attitude control without using fuel for rockets or
other reaction devices.

Principle
This is accomplished by equipping the spacecraft with an electric motor
attached to a flywheel which, when its rotation speed is changed, causes
the

spacecraft

to

begin

to

counter-rotate

through conservation of angular momentum.

So reaction wheel works on:1) Newtons third law
2) Conservation of angular momentum

H1 = H2

proportionately

I1

1= 2

Limitations
Reaction wheels can only rotate a spacecraft around its center of mass;
they are not capable of moving the spacecraft from one place to another.
Reaction wheels work around a nominal zero rotation speed. However,
external torques on the spacecraft may require a gradual buildup of
reaction wheel rotation speed to maintain the spacecraft in a fixed
orientation.

Use
They are particularly useful when the spacecraft must be rotated by very
small amounts, such as keeping a telescope pointed at a star. They may
also reduce the mass fraction needed for fuel.

A reaction wheel is sometimes operated as (and referred to as)

a momentum wheel, by operating it at a constant (or near-constant)
rotation speed, in order to imbue a satellite with a large amount of stored
angular momentum. Doing so alters the spacecraft's rotational dynamics
so that disturbance torques perpendicular to one axis of the satellite (the
axis parallel to the wheel's spin axis) do not result directly in spacecraft
angular motion about the same axis as the disturbance torque; instead,
they result in (generally smaller) angular motion (precession) of that
spacecraft axis about a perpendicular axis. This has the effect of tending
to stabilize that spacecraft axis to point in a nearly-fixed direction,
allowing for a less-complicated attitude control system. Satellites using
this "momentum-bias" stabilization approach include SCISAT-1; by
orienting the momentum wheel's axis to be parallel to the orbit-normal
vector, this satellite is in a "pitch momentum bias" configuration.
A control moment gyroscope (CMG) is a related but different type of
attitude actuator, generally consisting of a momentum wheel mounted in
a one-axis or two-axis gimbal. When mounted to a rigid spacecraft,

applying a constant torque to the wheel using one of the gimbal motors
causes the spacecraft to develop a constant angular velocity about a
perpendicular axis, thus allowing control of the spacecraft's pointing
direction. CMGs are generally able to produce larger sustained torques
than RWs with less motor heating, and are preferentially used in larger
and/or more-agile spacecraft, including Skylab and the International
Space Station.

CLYDE SPACE

Components
Bottom plate
Cage

D-subconnectors
O-Rings
Fly wheel
Air bearings

Specialties
It uses air bearings
4 Reaction wheels are used. 3 for each axis and 1 redundant at 45
degree to other 3.
Life of around 8 years

It is quite cheap for self-sufficient space agencies.

Development Tests
Thermal vacuum tests
The purpose of the thermal vacuum test is to demonstrate the ability of the
equipment to perform in a thermal vacuum environment that simulates the
worst conditions in-orbit, including an adequate margin.

 Radiation test
Vibration analysis
The purpose of sinusoidal vibration testing is to demonstrate the ability of
the equipment to withstand low frequency excitations of the launcher
increased by a qualification factor.
The purpose of random vibration testing is to demonstrate the ability of the
equipment to withstand the random excitation produced by the launcher,
increased by a qualification margin, and to the transmitted acoustic noise
excitation.

Piezoelectric test
Static and dynamic imbalancing test
Hermetic seal test
It is the test used to see if the sealing is enough to prevent inert gases from
leaking

Thermal analysis

References

ECSS-E-10-03A