Application of the restoring force surface method to a real-life spacecraft structure

Many nonlinear system identification methods have been introduced in the technical literature during the last thirty years. However, few of these methods were applied to real-life structures. In this context, the objective of the present paper is to demonstrate that the Restoring Force Surface (RFS) method can provide a reliable identification of a nonlinear spacecraft structure. The nonlinear component comprises an inertia wheel mounted on a support, the motion of which is constrained by eight elastomer plots and mechanical stops. Several adaptations to the RFS method are proposed, which include the elimination of kinematic constraints and the regularization of ill-conditioned inverse problems. The proposed methodology is demonstrated using numerical data.