Nonlinear dynamics of fixed-trim reentry vehicles with moving-mass roll control system

Nonlinear dynamic characteristics of a fixed-trim reentry vehicle controlled by an internal moving-mass actuator are analyzed. A traditional dynamic model develops into a five-dimensional nonlinear model using classic Euler angles and their derivatives as state variables. Based on the nonlinear motion equations, by setting the offset distance of the moving-mass as a variation parameter, the curves of the system's equilibrium points are presented by numerical methods. Then the distributions and approximate analytical solutions of the equilibrium points are obtained by simplifying the model under the condition of small intrinsic angles. The results show that the numbers and values of the equilibrium points are closely connected with the location of the moving-mass. Furthermore, the stabilities of equilibrium points are examined by the Lyapunov's first method and three groups of stable equilibrium points are obtained. Since only one group of the stable equilibrium points is desired, the angular motion of the system may be unstable or stay in an undesired lock-in state when the offset distance of the moving-mass or the attitude disturbance of the vehicle is too large.