Numerical analysis of the oscillation susceptibility along the path of longitudinal flight equilibria of a reentry vehicle

In this paper, it is shown that when the automatic flight control system (AFCS) is decoupled, then on the path of longitudinal flight equilibria of the ALFLEX reentry vehicle, there exist saddle–node bifurcations resulting in oscillations: when the elevator angle exceeds the bifurcation value, the a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNonlinear analysis: real world applications Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. 1953 - 1962
Main Authors Balint, St, Kaslik, E., Balint, A.M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2010
Subjects
Angle of attack
Automatic flight control
Bifurcation
Bifurcations
Design engineering
Elevators
Orbits
Oscillation
Oscillations
Pitch angle
Reentry vehicle
Reentry vehicles
Stability
Bifurcation
Stability
Reentry vehicle
Oscillation
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Summary:In this paper, it is shown that when the automatic flight control system (AFCS) is decoupled, then on the path of longitudinal flight equilibria of the ALFLEX reentry vehicle, there exist saddle–node bifurcations resulting in oscillations: when the elevator angle exceeds the bifurcation value, the angle of attack and pitch rate oscillate with the same period, while the pitch angle increases or decreases infinitely. Hence, the orbit of the system is spiraling. It is also shown that a mild (non-catastrophic) stability loss occurs due to the bifurcations. Based on this analysis, an automatic flight control design is developed.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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content type line 23
ISSN:1468-1218
1878-5719
DOI:10.1016/j.nonrwa.2009.04.017