Computer models of contact interaction of spacecraft docking units

This paper describes kinematics of relative motion of docked spacecrafts and theirs docking units as well as contact reaction computing technique. A new method is presented for describing of docking unit guide elements by using a set of simple geometrical primitives. Contact conditions and parameters for each pair of such primitives are determined by simple analytical relations. Two contact interaction models of pairs of central and peripheral type docking units are considered.