Abstract: The rigid-flexible dynamics of spacecraft with solar panel is investigated in this paper. Different from the traditional modeling method which loses the dynamic stiffness terms, the present modeling method that employs the nonlinear coupling terms of the elastic deformed displacement can capture the dynamic stiffness terms. The modal assumption method and Kane's methods are employed in order to derive the first order approximate dynamic equations. The results of numerical simulation show that, the present modeling method provides not only the accurate simulation results but also the limit of validity of the traditional modeling method.

Key words: rigid-flexible coupling, dynamic stiffening, modal assumption, numerical simulation, Kane equations