Evaluation of Skylab IB sensitivity to on-pad winds with turbulence

Computer simulation was performed to estimate displacements and bending moments experienced by the SKYLAB 1B vehicle on the launch pad due to atmospheric winds. The vehicle was assumed to be a beam-like structure represented by a finite number of generalized coordinates. Wind flow across the vehicle was treated as a nonhomogeneous, stationary random process. Response computations were performed by the assumption of simple strip theory and application of generalized harmonic analysis. Displacement and bending moment statistics were obtained for six vehicle propellant loading conditions and four representative reference wind profile and turbulence levels. Means, variances and probability distributions are presented graphically for each case. A separate analysis was performed to indicate the influence of wind gradient variations on vehicle response statistics.