Verification of force and acceleration specifications for random vibration tests of Cassini spacecraft equipment

The use of force limiting in the random vibration testing of the Cassini spacecraft's subsystems is reported on. A verification of the Cassini equipment random vibration test acceleration and force specifications is provided by interface acceleration and force data measured in acoustic tests of the Cassini spacecraft development test model (DTM). Acoustic tests were performed on the DTM structure with different structural and equipment configurations. The acceleration and force spectra at the interface between the equipment items and the spacecraft DTM structure were measured in the acoustic tests and compared with the equipment random vibration test specifications. The spacecraft's apparent masses were measured at the equipment mounting points and used in force limit predictions.