Attitude controller design for a launch vehicle with fuel-slosh

Abstract

Today's space vehicle structures are composed of large quantities of liquid fuel. Fuel-slosh occurs when fuel in a partially filled tank sloshes around inside the tank in response to vehicle acceleration. Fuel-slosh can be a severe problem in space vehicle stability and control if the fuel modes of motion couple significantly with the space vehicle's normal modes of motion. We propose a determination method for sloshing parameters. The proposed method is represented in a geometric sense. Also, we design an attitude controller for a launch vehicle with fuel-slosh. A PD controller and a slosh filter are designed for the purpose. The performance of the attitude controller is evaluated via computer simulations.