Application of multibody simulation tool for dynamical analysis of tethered aerostat

This paper presents a dynamical analysis of a tethered aerostat using a multibody simulation tool called SimscapeMultibody™. Tethered aerostats are lighter than air vehicles that float in the air and are connected to the ground through the tether. Atmospheric winds are a source of disturbance to the aerostat. The wind produces drag force that causes the aerostat to displace from its mean position. This phenomenon is called blow-by. Solving the mathematical model of the motion dynamics with time step is the conventional method used for simulating the flight dynamics of the aerostat. This paper discusses the application of Simscape Multibody™ for the three-degrees-of-freedom flight dynamic simulation of spherical tethered aerostat. Simscape Multibody™, an extension of MATLAB®/Simulink, is a multibody modeling tool in which physical bodies and their interactions have to be defined to simulate the dynamics. The mathematical model of the defined system is automatically generated by the SimscapeMultibody™ solver, and the system dynamics is simulated. The simulation of dynamics using multibody modeling tools provides high fidelity simulation for the tethered aerostats.