• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.76-83
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• 2005

Thrusters are important actuators where air is rare. Since the maintenance or replacement of thrusters is not easy in such an environment, a thrusting system must be highly reliable. Redundant thrusters are used to meet the reliability requirement. In this paper, a reconfiguration problem for those redundant thrusters is discussed, especially the management or distribution logic of redundant thrusters is focused on. The logic has to be changed if faults occur at thrusters. Reconfiguration is to change the distribution logic to accommodate thrusters' faults. The authors propose a reconfiguration algorithm based on the linear programming method. The authors define the reconfiguration problem as an optimization problem. The performance index is a quantity related with total fuel consumption by thrusters. This algorithm can accommodate multiple faults. Numerical examples are given to show the advantage of the proposed algorithm over existing methods.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.265-272
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• 1999

A thrusters modulation method is suggested for spacecraft attitude control with asymmetric configured thrusters during orbit adjustment maneuvers. Attitude is controlled by thrusters off-modulation during orbit maneuvers. Usual control method for symmetric configured thrusters cam not be applied for asymmetric configured thrusters. Disturbance induced from thrusters asymmetricity shall be compensated during pulsing. In this paper, a thrusters control method using null solution is suggested, which is shown working well without inducing disturbance.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.114-118
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• 2006

This paper describes the thrusters configuration optimized in preliminary performances for COMS (Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite). The exact values of the thrusters tilt angles must be frozen for the manufacturing of COMS platform based on the EUROSTAR 3000 platform as these angles depend on the spacecraft center of mass position and thrusters location, the definition process has to be performed specifically for COMB. Concerning pitch control thrusters (6, 7), South thrusters (1, 2, 3), and East/West thrusters (4. ~, their optimum positions and force orientations based on the thrusters A/B middle position and MOL (Middle Of Life) are obtained. The torques of thrusters (plume and geometrical torques) are minimized to improve the preliminary performance of thrusters.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.33-39
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• 2004

The performance of a deep water drillship, is investigated with the view of the characteristics of the thrusters and the resistance increasement due to moonpooi. The model tests have been performed to obtain the resistance of two drillships with the moonpooi open and closed including shape changes of moonpool step. To design the DP system, thrust forces of azimuth thrusters have been measured during azimuthing at zero speed condition. Thrusters, azimuthing under the bottom of ship, have the interactions of the other thrusters due to flow changes made by other thrusters, and the existence of ship hull makes the thrust deduction higher than when the thrust operates by itself. The resistance increasement due to the moonpooi is highly dependent on the step height of the moonpool and the draft. It is found that the height of moonpool step can reduce the resistance increasement by moonpool.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.60-66
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• 2004

Redundant thrusters are generally adopted to satellite designs for a highly reliable attitude control system. So efficient redundancy management is required to take advantage of these redundant thrusters. In this paper, control allocation method is proposed as a method for controlling redundant thrusters. Control allocation is a method to calculate optimal distribution on redundant controls for realizing desired forces/torques. It is shown that a control allocation problem for redundant thrusters is formulated as a linear programming problem which minimizes fuel consumptions with thrusters, constraints. We also show that the proposed method is more efficient than an existing method by numerical examples.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.297-315
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• 2011

New applications of streamlined Autonomous Underwater Vehicles require an AUV capable of completing missions with both high-speed straight-line runs and slow maneuvers or station keeping tasks. At low, or zero, forward speeds, the AUV's control surfaces become ineffective. To improve an AUV's low speed maneuverability, while maintaining a low drag profile, through-body tunnel thrusters have become a popular addition to modern AUV systems. The effect of forward vehicle motion and sideslip on these types of thrusters is not well understood. In order to characterize these effects and to adapt existing tunnel thruster models to include them, an experimental system was constructed. This system includes a transverse tunnel thruster mounted in a streamlined AUV. A 6-axis load cell mounted internally was used to measure the thrust directly. The AUV was mounted in Memorial University of Newfoundland's tow tank, and several tests were run to characterize the effect of vehicle motion on the transient and steady state thruster performance. Finally, a thruster model was modified to include these effects.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.137-141
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• 2004

Many monopropellant thrusters use a catalyst for decompose the propellant, hydrazine. The catalyst directly affects the thruster performances and lifetime. Therefore, it is important to confirm that the catalyst is suitable for our thrusters. Until 2002, we used She1l405 catalyst, for satellite RCS thrusters, and H-IIA and M-V launch vehicle upper-stage RCS thrusters. In 2002, however, Shell Chemical Inc. ceased manufacturing She1l405 catalyst and transferred the product to AEROJET, where it was renamed S405. We subsequently investigated the characteristics of AEROJET's S405 catalyst and SOLVAY's KC12GA catalyst, (SOLVAY is a Belgian chemical company, and KC12GA is used for ASTRIUM's thruster) and conducted thruster firing tests using the new catalysts. After conducting, we confirm that the KC12GA catalyst was suitable for our thrusters, and decided to use KC12GA for two satellite programs.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.8
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• pp.722-730
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• 2015

Drive mechanism of multi-axis pintle thrusters for DCS(Divert Control System) was designed to meet the needs of minimizing the number of driving motors. In this study, preliminary model was designed in order to implement appropriate pressure control and thrust distribution. Based on the preliminary model study, the drive mechanism for DCS multi-axis pintle thrusters using piston was designed and evaluated by using AMESim software. Results show that three driving motors are enough to actuate four pintle thrusters.

• Journal of Ship and Ocean Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2002

Recently, the application of the electric propulsion system becomes popular because of its advantage over conventional propulsion. However, the complicated flow mechanism and interaction around the azimuth thruster are not fully understood yet, and the studies on the powering performance characteristics with azimuth/pod thrusters are now in progress. The experimental method developed in KRISO(Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering) is introduced and the results of the powering performance tests, consisting of resistance, self-propulsion and propeller open water tests for a cable layer with two azimuth thrusters are presented. For the analysis of powering performance with azimuth thrusters, it is necessary to evaluate the thrust/drag for components of a thruster unit, Extrapolation results could differ according to the various definitions of the propulsion unit; that is the pod, thruster leg and/or nozzle can be treated as hull appendages or as part of propulsion unit, The powering performances based on several definitions are investigated for this vessel. The results of the measurements for the 3-dimensional velocity distribution on the propeller plane are presented to understand the basis of the difference in propulsion characteristics due to the propeller rotational directions.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 2009

In this study, a Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulator using thrusters is developed to validate the spacecraft attitude system. To control the attitude of the simulator, eight cold gas thrusters are aligned with roll, pitch and yaw axis. Also linear actuators are applied to the HIL simulator for automatic mass balancing to compensate the center of mass offset from the center of rotation. The HIL simulator consists of an embedded computer (Onboard PC) for simulator system control, a wireless adapter for wireless network, a rate gyro sensor to measure 3-axis attitude of the simulator, an inclinometer to measure horizontal attitude, and a battery set to supply power for the simulator independently. For the performance test of the HIL simulator, a bang-bang controller and Pulse-Width Pulse-Frequency (PWPF) modulator are evaluated successfully. The maneuver of 68 deg. in yaw axis is tested for the comparison of the both controllers. The settling time of the bang -bang controller is faster than that of the PWPF modulator by six seconds in the experiment. The required fuel of the PWPF modulator is used as much as 51% of bang-bang controller in the experiment. Overall, the HIL simulator is appropriately developed to validate the control algorithms using thrusters.