Uncertainty Analysis of a Large-Scale Satellite Finite Element Model

摘要

The effects of uncertainties in the material properties and the geometry of a satellite structure are investigated fornvarious aspects of the structural performance. The underlying numericalmodel is a refined large-scale finite elementnmodel, which naturally implies a large number of uncertain parameters. To cope with the computational challengenassociated with the large number of parameters, recently developed advancedMonte Carlo simulation methods arenapplied.Because of their insensitivitywith respect to the number of uncertain parameters, thesemethods are suitablenfor large-scale finite element models arising in aerospace applications. The numerical results indicate significantnscatter in the quantities of interest and hence emphasize the importance of accounting for uncertainties in thennumericalmodel to rationally assess the structural performance and to ensure its reliability. Furthermore, the paperndemonstrates that due to the efficiency of the adopted uncertainty analysis methods, the associated computationalnefforts are greatly reduced and hence manageable, if compared with traditional methods.