Simulation and Experimental Validation of a Piezoelectric Vibration Damping System for CubeSat

CubeSat missions much like other traditional satellites face the issue of experiencing intense vibration and shock during space travel. Within the scope of the onboard telemetry tracking and command system, vibration can result in latency which degrades the performance of the system. This paper presents a comprehensive study on piezoelectric shunt damping for CubeSats, focusing on both simulation and experimental validation. The piezoelectric shunt damping system prototype developed in this paper was able to achieve a shunted voltage of 5 mV, a displacement amplitude decrement of 40%, a damping ratio of 0.223 and an overall system latency of 24 ms. The effectiveness of the proposed piezoelectric shunt damping system prototype is evaluated in comparison to other referenced shunt damping systems.