Cascade nonlinear observer design for large amplitude of slosh variables in spacecraft maneuver with liquid propellant tank

Abstract

Slosh dynamics in a liquid propellant tank during a spacecraft maneuver can have an effect on the system stability and potentially lead to critical problems for the mission operation. In particular, the fuel sloshing problem has drawn significant attention in aerospace applications where a large portion of the gross weight is comprised of liquid fuel. Recently, many active control methods have been introduced as alternatives to passive approaches. However, the majority of these methods basically require the full-state condition. To guarantee the availability of the full-state condition, this paper proposes a cascade nonlinear state observer based on the sliding mode theory for estimating the unmeasurable slosh variables in a planar model. Additionally, for large amplitude estimation, a complete nonlinear mathematical model with a pendulum analogy is formulated without a linearization process. The stability analysis is theoretically proven by Lyapunov method. The effectiveness is demonstrated through simulations, and the performance comparison with a different observer method is also presented in the results.