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Analytical model for the propagation of small debris objects clouds after fragmentations

Analytical model for the propagation of small debris objects clouds after fragmentations
Analytical model for the propagation of small debris objects clouds after fragmentations
Current debris evolutionary models usually neglect fragments smaller than 10 cm because of the high computational effort they add to the simulation. However, small-debris objects can also be dangerous to operational satellites. This work proposes an analytical approach to describe the evolution of a cloud of small fragments generated by a collision in low Earth orbit. The proposed approach considers the cloud globally and derives its evolution analytically, in terms of the change in the spatial density under the effect of atmospheric drag. As a result, the analytical approach allows the representation of small fragments and noticeably reduces the computational time under 10% compared to the numerical propagation of all the fragment trajectories. For altitudes above 800 km, the relative error compared to the numerical method is lower than 10%.
0731-5090
1478-1491
Letizia, Francesca
5f9f7e3f-0bf0-4731-9660-2d025def8392
Colombo, Camilla
595ced96-9494-40f2-9763-ad4a0f96bc86
Lewis, Hugh G.
e9048cd8-c188-49cb-8e2a-45f6b316336a
Letizia, Francesca
5f9f7e3f-0bf0-4731-9660-2d025def8392
Colombo, Camilla
595ced96-9494-40f2-9763-ad4a0f96bc86
Lewis, Hugh G.
e9048cd8-c188-49cb-8e2a-45f6b316336a

Letizia, Francesca, Colombo, Camilla and Lewis, Hugh G. (2015) Analytical model for the propagation of small debris objects clouds after fragmentations. Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics, 38 (8), 1478-1491. (doi:10.2514/1.G000695).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Current debris evolutionary models usually neglect fragments smaller than 10 cm because of the high computational effort they add to the simulation. However, small-debris objects can also be dangerous to operational satellites. This work proposes an analytical approach to describe the evolution of a cloud of small fragments generated by a collision in low Earth orbit. The proposed approach considers the cloud globally and derives its evolution analytically, in terms of the change in the spatial density under the effect of atmospheric drag. As a result, the analytical approach allows the representation of small fragments and noticeably reduces the computational time under 10% compared to the numerical propagation of all the fragment trajectories. For altitudes above 800 km, the relative error compared to the numerical method is lower than 10%.

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Submitted date: 19 April 2014
Accepted/In Press date: 23 December 2014
Published date: 27 March 2015
Organisations: Astronautics Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 373673
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373673
ISSN: 0731-5090
PURE UUID: 196daeb3-e6e5-4ce9-b7bf-162deacbe5a1
ORCID for Camilla Colombo: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9636-9360
ORCID for Hugh G. Lewis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3946-8757

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 27 Jan 2015 17:08
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:54

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Contributors

Author: Francesca Letizia
Author: Camilla Colombo ORCID iD
Author: Hugh G. Lewis ORCID iD

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