Spectrally formulated modeling of a cable-harnessed structure

To obtain predictive modeling of the spacecraft, we investigate the effects of adding cables to a simple structure with the goal of developing an understanding of the effects of cables interacting with a structure. In this paper, we present modeling of a cable-harnessed structure by means of the Spectral Element Method (SEM). A double beam model is used to emulate a cable-harnessed structure. SEM modeling can define the location and the number of connections between the two beams in a convenient fashion. The presented modeling is applied and compared with the conventional FEM. The modeling approach was compared and validated with experimental measurements. The validated modeling was implemented to investigate the effect of the number of connections and of the spring stiffness of interconnections. The results show that the proposed modeling can be used as an accurate and efficient solution methodology for a cable-harnessed structure.