Aeroelastic Analysis of Guided Hypersonic Launch Vehicles

This study is concerned with the general motion of a guided flexible launch vehicle idealized as a non-uniform beam under continuous thrust action. The governing equations of motion are derived following the Lagrangian approach and generalized coordinates. The rigid motion consists of the conventional vehicle velocities (rotational and translative), whereas the elastic motion, introduced through modal substitution, represents the vehicle local lateral and transverse displacements relative to a mean body axis system. A complete simulation routine has been developed, which allows for investigation of the influence of various vibrational forcing functions, local stiffness changes and the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) displacements on the vehicle trajectory and the required control action histories.