LAUSR

Abstract In this study, we analyzed the influence of liquid sloshing on the pitching dynamics of flexible space structure with liquid on board; the analysis considers the main body of a spacecraft as a rigid tank, the flexible appendages as two elastically supported elastic beams, and on-board liquid as an ideal liquid. The meniscus of the free surface of the liquid due to surface tension was considered. The Lagrangians of the main body of the spacecraft (rigid tank), liquid, and two beams (flexible appendages) were used in addition to assuming antisymmetric motion of the system; the frequency equations of the coupled system were obtained by applying the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Influence of moment of inertia of the main body on coupled motions of the flexible spacecraft was investigated.