Bifurcation characteristics of reentry vehicle with one moving point mass

Based on the nonlinear dynamic model, the variations of values and stability of equilibrium points for the reentry vehicle with one moving point mass are presented and the bifurcation diagram of the attitude motion is obtained. Then the domains of attraction of the attractors on typical conditions are computed. The results show that the deflection distance of the moving-mass element has a great impact on the quantities and stability of the system's equilibrium points, and the final convergence status of the flight vehicle is also greatly affected by the initial conditions of the flight motion. Inappropriate initial conditions may cause the reentry vehicle being locked in an undesired equilibrium point or limit cycle and result in problems such as stall or loss-of-control. In addition, by analyzing the variation of bifurcation diagrams of the system with different parameters, the impacts of the structural and aerodynamic parameters of the reentry vehicle on the system's bifurcation characteristics are summed up, which can provide a reference for the design of the system parameters.