AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROTATIONAL MOTION OF A BODY DURING RE-ENTRY

Abstract

The dynamical equations of motion are formulated for a body during re-entry into the atmosphere. With the assumption that the translational and rotational degrees of freedom may be treated independently, an analysis is undertaken of the oscillatory motion of a re-entry vehicle which is spinning about its longitudinal axis. The influence of the spin rate and the static margin upon the stability of the transient solution of the equations of motion is considered, and it is concluded that satisfactory dynamical behavior of the re-entry body may be anticipated if the static margin of the vehicle is less than zero, the spin rate is in the range 0.5 to 2 radians per second, and the lift curve has a slope equal to or greater than zero. An examination of the precessional and nutational motion of the vehicle is also made, and the effect of initial conditions upon these modes of oscillation is indicated.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 28, 1961
Accession Number
AD0608316

Entities

People

  • T. B. Garber

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerodynamic Heating
  • Air Force
  • Altitude
  • Angular Motion
  • Control Systems
  • Differential Equations
  • Dispersions
  • Equations
  • Equations Of Motion
  • Equations Of State
  • Flight Paths
  • Frequency
  • Molecular Mechanics Methods
  • Sea Level
  • Steady State
  • Trajectories
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.