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Josiah A. Bryan
University of Missouri - Columbia
Advisor: Dr. Craig A. Kluever
Abstract
The preliminary stages of development were completed on a software package that maximizes the range of an unpowered reusable launch vehicle during the Terminal Area Energy Management (TAEM) phase of reentry into Earth's atmosphere by adjusting the angle of attack at a given number of nodes along its trajectory. The software returns the optimal trajectory in terms of angle-of-attack deviations from a maximum lift-to-drag trajectory, which is the traditional trajectory used to maximize range of an unpowered aerial vehicle. In order to test the optimization software, an aerodynamic model of the HORUS-2B launch vehicle was developed to calculate lift and drag coefficients for a given angle of attack and Mach number. Though the optimization software returns reasonable trajectories under some conditions, it needs much further development to converge reliably for a wide range of initial conditions. Future research may consider other optimization algorithms, optimizing the number of nodes used along the trajectory, modeling other effects, such as wind, and investigating the possibility of quasi-equilibrium glide at constant dynamic pressure.
Josiah Bryan is a senior at the University of Missouri. He hopes to graduate in May 2010 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an emphasis in Aerospace, and then to continue studies at the university by pursuing an MS in Mechanical Engineering. He desires to continue studying aerospace-related topics throughout his graduate curriculum, with the possibility of conducting research in a field related to this paper. |
