Aerodynamic pitch control design for reversal of missile’s flight direction

Abstract

This paper proposes a purely aerodynamic pitch control design scheme for agile missiles that need to reverse their flight directions for tracking a target. The main challenge in performing this kind of manoeuvre is that the missiles may enter the high angle of attack domain in which aerodynamic actuation is ineffective. Assuming that reliable aerodynamic data are available for the flight envelope, a systematic search algorithm is employed to find an aerodynamic control parameter and the motor thrust activation time, so as to enable the missile's required manoeuvre. The strength of the proposed design scheme is that no third control mechanism such as thrust vectoring is required for the missile control even in the high angle of attack domain. The proposed design scheme is tested on aerodynamic data available in literature, and is shown to be promising via simulations.

Agile Missile Autopilot Design for High Angle of Attack Maneuvering with Aerodynamic Uncertainty

“…Heref 1 andf q1 are replaced withf 1 =2 andf q1 =2 in pitch control law Eqs. (10) and (13), respectively, while the standard NTSM control law Eq. (17) without ESO is adopted for roll and yaw control.…”

“…Various nonlinear autopilot schemes were also considered using the H 1 method, 6) pole placement method, 7) backstepping method 8) and so on. Recently, a novel strategy for agile turn control of high-performance missiles was first proposed by Ratliff et al 9) and further developed by Kim et al 10) In this strategy, fast 180 change in the missile pitch angle was accomplished by purely aerodynamic control. This aero-surface control mode, only verified by longitudinal motion simulation without the consideration of aerodynamic disturbance, is questionable in practical terms.…”

High angle of attack command generation technique and tracking control for agile missiles

“…Recently, a novel strategy only using aerodynamic control was proposed in [7], in order to demonstrate a simple potential scheme of agile turn. Furthermore, detailed investigations for this strategy including theoretical analysis and numerical simulation were carried out in [8]. It should be noted that the majority of control system implementations in previous literatures is dependent on precise or basically precise aerodynamic data for an agile missile.…”