Predicting the effect of fuel slosh on spacecraft and launch vehicle attitude control systems has been a very important and challenging task and has been the subject of considerable research over the past years. Analytic determination of the slosh analog parameters has been met with mixed success and is made more difficult by the introduction of propellant management devices such as elastomeric diaphragms. The experimental set-up in this research incorporates a diaphragm in a simulated spacecraft fuel tank subjected to lateral slosh behavior. This research focuses on the parameter estimation of a SimMechanics model of the simulated spacecraft propellant tank with diaphragms using lateral fuel slosh experiment data. An experimental investigation was conducted to determine and measure the slosh forces response of free surface slosh and diaphragms in an eight inch diameter spherical tank. The lateral slosh testing consisted of the tank assembly partially filled with different liquids, for other tests, diaphragms were incorporated into the tank. The experiment results from different testing conditions were compared for estimation of unknown parameter characteristics that include the pendulum model stiffness constants and damping coefficients.
","abstract_html":"<p>Predicting the effect of fuel slosh on spacecraft and launch vehicle attitude control systems has been a very important and challenging task and has been the subject of considerable research over the past years. Analytic determination of the slosh analog parameters has been met with mixed success and is made more difficult by the introduction of propellant management devices such as elastomeric diaphragms. The experimental set-up in this research incorporates a diaphragm in a simulated spacecraft fuel tank subjected to lateral slosh behavior. This research focuses on the parameter estimation of a SimMechanics model of the simulated spacecraft propellant tank with diaphragms using lateral fuel slosh experiment data. An experimental investigation was conducted to determine and measure the slosh forces response of free surface slosh and diaphragms in an eight inch diameter spherical tank. The lateral slosh testing consisted of the tank assembly partially filled with different liquids, for other tests, diaphragms were incorporated into the tank. The experiment results from different testing conditions were compared for estimation of unknown parameter characteristics that include the pendulum model stiffness constants and damping coefficients.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Chatman, Yadira Rodriguez"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sathya Gangadharan","R.R. Mankbadi","James Sudermann"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-09-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-09-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:37Z","subjects":["parameter estimation","spacecraft","fuel slosh","Aerospace Engineering","Propulsion and Power","Space Vehicles"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/28","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sathya Gangadharan","R.R. Mankbadi","James Sudermann"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Chatman, Yadira Rodriguez"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["parameter estimation","spacecraft","fuel slosh","Aerospace Engineering","Propulsion and Power","Space Vehicles"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/28"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Predicting the effect of fuel slosh on spacecraft and launch vehicle attitude control systems has been a very important and challenging task and has been the subject of considerable research over the past years. Analytic determination of the slosh analog parameters has been met with mixed success and is made more difficult by the introduction of propellant management devices such as elastomeric diaphragms. The experimental set-up in this research incorporates a diaphragm in a simulated spacecraft fuel tank subjected to lateral slosh behavior. This research focuses on the parameter estimation of a SimMechanics model of the simulated spacecraft propellant tank with diaphragms using lateral fuel slosh experiment data. An experimental investigation was conducted to determine and measure the slosh forces response of free surface slosh and diaphragms in an eight inch diameter spherical tank. The lateral slosh testing consisted of the tank assembly partially filled with different liquids, for other tests, diaphragms were incorporated into the tank. The experiment results from different testing conditions were compared for estimation of unknown parameter characteristics that include the pendulum model stiffness constants and damping coefficients.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Modeling and Parameter Estimation of Spacecraft Lateral Fuel Slosh"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sathya Gangadharan","R.R. Mankbadi","James Sudermann"],"dc:creator":["Chatman, Yadira Rodriguez"],"dc:description.abstract":["Predicting the effect of fuel slosh on spacecraft and launch vehicle attitude control systems has been a very important and challenging task and has been the subject of considerable research over the past years. Analytic determination of the slosh analog parameters has been met with mixed success and is made more difficult by the introduction of propellant management devices such as elastomeric diaphragms. The experimental set-up in this research incorporates a diaphragm in a simulated spacecraft fuel tank subjected to lateral slosh behavior. This research focuses on the parameter estimation of a SimMechanics model of the simulated spacecraft propellant tank with diaphragms using lateral fuel slosh experiment data. An experimental investigation was conducted to determine and measure the slosh forces response of free surface slosh and diaphragms in an eight inch diameter spherical tank. The lateral slosh testing consisted of the tank assembly partially filled with different liquids, for other tests, diaphragms were incorporated into the tank. The experiment results from different testing conditions were compared for estimation of unknown parameter characteristics that include the pendulum model stiffness constants and damping coefficients.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/28"],"dc:subject":["parameter estimation","spacecraft","fuel slosh","Aerospace Engineering","Propulsion and Power","Space Vehicles"],"dc:title":["Modeling and Parameter Estimation of Spacecraft Lateral Fuel Slosh"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:37Z"}