Accurately tracking hypersonic gliding vehicles via an LEO mega-constellation in relay tracking mode

In order to effectively defend against the threats of the hypersonic gliding vehicles(HGVs),HGVs should be tracked as early as possible,which is beyond the capability of the ground-based radars.Being benefited by the developing megaconstellations in low-Earth orbit,this paper proposes a relay tracking mode to track HGVs to overcome the above problem.The whole tracking mission is composed of several tracking intervals with the same duration.Within each tracking interval,several appropriate satellites are dispatched to track the HGV.Satellites that are planned to take part in the tracking mission are selected by a new derived observability criterion.The tracking performances of the proposed tracking mode and the other two traditional tracking modes,including the stare and track-rate modes,are compared by simulation.The results show that the relay tracking mode can track the whole trajectory of a HGV,while the stare mode can only provide a very short tracking arc.Moreover,the relay tracking mode achieve higher tracking accuracy with fewer attitude controls than the track-rate mode.

Effect of attack angle on the electromagnetic wave transmission characteristics in the hypersonic plasma sheath of a re-entry vehicle

The attack angle may greatly affect the hypersonic plasma sheaths around the re-entry vehicle,thereby affecting the transmission characteristics of electromagnetic(EM)waves in the sheaths.In this paper,we propose an integrated three-dimensional(3D)model with various attack angles and realistic flying conditions of radio attenuation measurement C-II(RAM C-II)re-entry tasks for analyzing the effect of the attack angle on the transmission characteristics of EM waves in the sheaths.It is shown that the electron density and collision frequency of the sheath on the windward side can be increased by an order of magnitude with the increase of the attack angle.Meanwhile,the thickness of the sheath on the leeward side is increased where the electron density and collision frequency are reduced.The EM waves are mainly reflected on the windward plasma sheath due to the cutoff effect,and the radio-frequency(RF)blackout is mitigated if the antenna is positioned on the leeward side.Thus,by planning the trajectory properly and installing the antenna accordingly during the re-entry,it is possible to provide an approach for mitigation of the RF blackout problem to an extent.

Trigonometric Regularization and Continuation Method Based Time-Optimal Control of Hypersonic Vehicles

Aiming at the time-optimal control problem of hypersonic vehicles(HSV)in ascending stage,a trigonometric regularization method(TRM)is introduced based on the indirect method of optimal control.This method avoids analyzing the switching function and distinguishing between singular control and bang-bang control,where the singular control problem is more complicated.While in bang-bang control,the costate variables are unsmooth due to the control jumping,resulting in difficulty in solving the two-point boundary value problem(TPBVP)induced by the indirect method.Aiming at the easy divergence when solving the TPBVP,the continuation method is introduced.This method uses the solution of the simplified problem as the initial value of the iteration.Then through solving a series of TPBVP,it approximates to the solution of the original complex problem.The calculation results show that through the above two methods,the time-optimal control problem of HSV in ascending stage under the complex model can be solved conveniently.

Scale effect removal and range migration correction for hypersonic target coherent detection

The detection of hypersonic targets usually confronts range migration(RM)issue before coherent integration(CI).The traditional methods aiming at correcting RM to obtain CI mainly considers the narrow-band radar condition.However,with the increasing requirement of far-range detection,the time bandwidth product,which is corresponding to radar’s mean power,should be promoted in actual application.Thus,the echo signal generates the scale effect(SE)at large time bandwidth product situation,influencing the intra and inter pulse integration performance.To eliminate SE and correct RM,this paper proposes an effective algorithm,i.e.,scaled location rotation transform(ScLRT).The ScLRT can remove SE to obtain the matching pulse compression(PC)as well as correct RM to complete CI via the location rotation transform,being implemented by seeking the actual rotation angle.Compared to the traditional coherent detection algorithms,Sc LRT can address the SE problem to achieve better detection/estimation capabilities.At last,this paper gives several simulations to assess the viability of ScLRT.

Minimum eigenvalue based adaptive fault compensation for hypersonic vehicles

The attitude tracking control problem is addressed for hypersonic vehicles under actuator faults that may cause an uncertain time-varying control gain matrix.An adaptive compensation scheme is developed to ensure system stability and asymptotic tracking properties,including a kinematic control signal and a dynamic control signal.To deal with the uncertainties of the control gain matrix,a new positive definite one is constructed.The minimum eigenvalue of such a new control gain matrix is estimated.Simulation results of application to an X-33 vehicle model verify the effectiveness of the proposed minimum eigenvalue based adaptive fault compensation scheme.

Fault-tolerant FADS system development for a hypersonic vehicle via neural network algorithms

Hypersonic vehicles suffer from extreme aerodynamic heating during flights, especially around the area of leading edge due to its small curvature. Therefore, flush air data sensing(FADS) system has been developed to perform accurate measurement of the air data parameters. In the present study, the method to develop the FADS algorithms with fail-operational capability for a sharp-nosed hypersonic vehicle is provided. To be specific, the FADS system implemented with 16 airframe-integrated pressure ports is used as a case study. Numerical simulations of different freestream conditions have been conducted to generate the database for the FADS targeting in 2 ≤ Ma ≤ 5 and 0 km ≤ H ≤ 30 km. Four groups of neural network algorithms have been developed based on four different pressure port configurations, and the accuracy has been validated by 280 groups of simulations. Particularly, the algorithms based on the 16-port configuration show an excellent ability to serve as the main solver of the FADS, where 99. 5% of the angle-of-attack estimations are within the error band ±0. 2°. The accuracy of the algorithms is discussed in terms of port configuration. Furthermore, diagnosis of the system health is present in the paper. A fault-tolerant FADS system architecture has been designed, which is capable of continuously sensing the air data in the case that multi-port failure occurs, with a reduction in the system accuracy.

Effect of local wall temperature on hypersonic boundary layer stability and transition

Wall temperature significantly affects stability and receptivity of the boundary layer. Changing the wall temperature locally may therefore be an effective laminar flow control technique. However, the situation is complicated when the wall temperature distribution is nonuniform, and researchers have experimentally found that local wall cooling may delay the onset of transition. We attempt to clarify the physical mechanisms whereby the local wall temperature affects the transition and the stability of a hypersonic boundary layer. A numerical investigation of the disturbance evolution in a Mach-6 sharp cone boundary layer with local wall heating or cooling is conducted. Direct numerical simulation(DNS) is performed for the single-frequency and broadband disturbance evolution caused by random forcing. We vary the local wall temperature and the location of heating/cooling, and then use the eNmethod to estimate the transition onset. Our results show that local wall cooling amplifies high-frequency unstable waves while stabilizing low-frequency unstable waves, with local heating amplifying all unstable waves locally. The disturbance amplitude and second-mode peak frequency obtained by DNS agree well with the previous experimental results. Local cooling/heating has a dual effect on the stability of the hypersonic boundary layer. For local cooling, while it effectively inhibits the growth of the low-frequency unstable waves that dominate the transition downstream, it also further destabilizes the downstream flow. In addition, while upstream cooling can delay the transition, excessive cooling may promote it;local heating always slightly promotes the transition.Finally, recommendations are given for practical engineering applications based on the present results.

ADRC FRACTIONAL ORDER PID CONTROLLER DESIGN OF HYPERSONIC FLIGHT VEHICLE

Active disturbance rejection controller（ADRC）uses tracking-differentiator（TD）to solve the contradiction between the overshoot and the rapid nature.Fractional order proportion integral derivative（PID）controller improves the control quality and expands the stable region of the system parameters.ADRC fractional order（ADRFO）PID controller is designed by combining ADRC with the fractional order PID and applied to reentry attitude control of hypersonic vehicle.Simulation results show that ADRFO PID controller has better control effect and greater stable region for the strong nonlinear model of hypersonic flight vehicle under the influence of external disturbance,and has stronger robustness against the perturbation in system parameters.

MODAL FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTICS OF AXIALLY MOVING BEAM WITH SUPERSONIC/HYPERSONIC SPEED

The vibration characteristics of transverse oscillation of an axially moving beam with high velocity is in- vestigated. The vibration equation and boundary conditions of the free-free axially moving beam are derived using Hamilton＇s principle. Furthermore, the linearized equations are set up based on Galerkinl s method for the ap- proximation solution. Finally, three influencing factors on the vibration frequency of the beam are considered： （1） The axially moving speed. The first order natural frequency decreases as the axial velocity increases, so there is a critical velocity of the axially moving beam. （2） The mass loss. The changing of the mass density of some part of the beam increases the beam natural frequencies. （3） The thermal effect.＇ The temperature increase will decrease the beam elastic modulus and induce the vibration frequencies descending.

PARALLEL COMPUTATION OF 3-D HYPERSONIC FLOWS ON UNSTRUCTURED HYBRID MESHES

A parallel virtual machine （PVM） protocol based parallel computation of 3-D hypersonic flows with chemical non-equilibrium on hybrid meshes is presented. The numerical simulation for hypersonic flows with chemical non-equilibrium reactions encounters the stiffness problem, thus taking huge CPU time. Based on the domain decomposition method, a high efficient automatic domain decomposer for three-dimensional hybrid meshes is developed, and then implemented to the numerical simulation of hypersonic flows. Control equations are multicomponent N-S equations, and spatially discretized scheme is used by a cell-centered finite volume algorithm with a five-stage Runge-Kutta time step. The chemical kinetic model is a seven species model with weak ionization. A point-implicit method is used to solve the chemical source term. Numerical results on PC-Cluster are verified on a bi-ellipse model compared with references.

Adaptive Sliding Mode Control for Re-entry Attitude of Near Space Hypersonic Vehicle Based on Backstepping Design

Combining sliding mode control method with radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), this paper proposes a robust adaptive control scheme based on backstepping design for re-entry attitude tracking control of near space hypersonic vehicle (NSHV) in the presence of parameter variations and external disturbances. In the attitude angle loop, a robust adaptive virtual control law is designed by using the adaptive method to estimate the unknown upper bound of the compound uncertainties. In the angular velocity loop, an adaptive sliding mode control law is designed to suppress the effect of parameter variations and external disturbances. The main benefit of the sliding mode control is robustness to parameter variations and external disturbances. To further improve the control performance, RBFNNs are introduced to approximate the compound uncertainties in the attitude angle loop and angular velocity loop, respectively. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, the tracking errors are shown to be asymptotically stable. Simulation results show that the proposed control system attains a satisfied control performance and is robust against parameter variations and external disturbances. © 2014 Chinese Association of Automation.

Continuous Sliding Mode Controller with Disturbance Observer for Hypersonic Vehicles

In this paper, a continuous sliding mode controller with disturbance observer is proposed for the tracking control of hypersonic vehicles to suppress the chattering. The finite time disturbance observer is involved to make that the continuous sliding mode controller has the property of disturbance rejection. Due to continuous terms replacing the discontinuous term of traditional sliding mode control, switching modes of velocity and altitude firstly arrive at small regions with respect to disturbance observation errors. Switching modes keep zero and velocity and altitude asymptotically converge to their reference commands after disturbance observation errors disappear. Simulation results have proved the proposed method can guarantee the tracking of velocity and altitude with continuous sliding mode control laws, and also has the fast convergence rate and robustness. © 2014 Chinese Association of Automation.

Output Feedback Dynamic Surface Controller Design for Airbreathing Hypersonic Flight Vehicle

This paper addresses issues related to nonlinear robust output feedback controller design for a nonlinear model of airbreathing hypersonic vehicle. The control objective is to realize robust tracking of velocity and altitude in the presence of immeasurable states, uncertainties and varying flight conditions. A novel reduced order fuzzy observer is proposed to estimate the immeasurable states. Based on the information of observer and the measured states, a new robust output feedback controller combining dynamic surface theory and fuzzy logic system is proposed for airbreathing hypersonic vehicle. The closedloop system is proved to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded (SUUB), and the tracking error can be made small enough by choosing proper gains of the controller, filter and observer. Simulation results from the full nonlinear vehicle model illustrate the effectiveness and good performance of the proposed control scheme. © 2014 Chinese Association of Automation.

Active Aerothermoelastic Control of Hypersonic Double-wedge Lifting Surface

Designing re-entry space vehicles and high-speed aircraft requires special attention to the nonlinear thermoelastic and aerodynamic instability of their structural components. The thermal effects are important since temperature environment brings dramatic influences on the static and dynamic behaviors of flight structures in supersonic/hypersonic regimes and is likely to cause instability, catastrophic failure and oscillations resulting in structural failure due to fatigue. In order to understand the dynamic behaviors of these ＂hot＂ structures, a double-wedge lifting surface with combining freeplay and cubic structural nonlinearities in both plunging and pitching degrees-of-freedom operating in supersonic/hypersonic flight speed regimes has been analyzed. A third order piston theory aerodynamic is used to estimate the applied nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic loads. Also considered is the loss of torsional stiffness that may be incurred by lifting surfaces subject to axial stresses induced by aerodynamic heating. The aerodynamic heating effects are estimated based on the adiabatic wall temperature due to high speed airstreams. As a recently emerging technology, the active aerothermoelastic control is aimed at providing solutions to a large number of problems involving the aeronautical/aerospace flight vehicle structures. To prevent such damaging phenomena from occurring, an application of linear and nonlinear active control methods on both flutter boundary and post-flutter behavior has been fulfilled. In this paper, modeling issues as well as numerical simulation have been presented and pertinent conclusions outlined. It is evidenced that a serious loss of torsional stiffness may induce the dynamic instability; however active control can be used to expand the flutter boundary and convert unstable limit cycle oscillations （LCO） into the stable LCO and/or to shift the transition between these two states toward higher flight Mach numbers.

Progress in reentry trajectory planning for hypersonic vehicle

The reentry trajectory planning for hypersonic vehicles is critical and challenging in the presence of numerous nonlinear equations of motion and path constraints, as well as guaranteed satisfaction of accuracy in meeting all the specified boundary conditions. In the last ten years, many researchers have investigated various strategies to generate a feasible or optimal constrained reentry trajectory for hypersonic vehicles. This paper briefly reviews the new research efforts to promote the capability of reentry trajectory planning. The progress of the onboard reentry trajectory planning, reentry trajectory optimization, and landing footprint is summarized. The main challenges of reentry trajectory planning for hypersonic vehicles are analyzed, focusing on the rapid reentry trajectory optimization, complex geographic constraints, and coop- erative strategies.

Experimental demonstration of a new concept of drag reduction and thermal protection for hypersonic vehicles

A new idea of drag reduction and thermal protection for hypersonic vehicles is proposed based on the combination of a physical spike and lateral jets for shockreconstruction. The spike recasts the bow shock in front of a blunt body into a conical shock, and the lateral jets work to protect the spike tip from overheating and to push the conical shock away from the blunt body when a pitching angle exists during flight. Experiments are conducted in a hypersonic wind tunnel at a nominal Mach number of 6. It is demonstrated that the shock/shock interaction on the blunt body is avoided due to injection and the peak pressure at the reattachment point is reduced by 70% under a 4° attack angle.

Aerodynamic map for soft and hard hypersonic level flight in near space

In this note, we design a velocity-altitude map for hypersonic level flight in near space of altitude 20-100 km. This map displays aerodynamic-related parameters associated with near space level flight, schematically or quantitatively. Various physical conditions for the near-space level flight are then characterized, including laminar or turbulent flow, rarefaction or continuous flow, aerodynamic heating, as well as conditions for sustaining level flight with and without orbital effect. This map allows one to identify conditions to have soft flight or hard flight, and this identification would be helpful for making correct planning on detailed studies of aerodynamics or making initial design of near space vehicles.

Flight control for a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle based on quasi-continuous high-order sliding mode

The focus of this paper is on control design and simulation for the longitudinal model of a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle（FAHV）.The model of interest includes flexibility effects and intricate couplings between the engine dynamics and flight dynamics.To overcome the analytical intractability of this model,a nominal control-oriented model is constructed for the purpose of feedback control design in the first place.Secondly,the multi-input multi-output（MIMO） quasi-continuous high-order sliding mode（HOSM） controller is proposed to track step changes in velocity and altitude,which is based on full state feedback.The simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Coupled dynamic model of state estimation for hypersonic glide vehicle

Aiming at handling complicated maneuvers or other unpredicted emergencies for hypersonic glide vehicle tracking,three coupled dynamic models of state estimation based on the priori information between guidance variables and aerodynamics are presented. Firstly, the aerodynamic acceleration acting on the target is analyzed to reveal the essence of the target’s motion.Then three coupled structures for modeling aerodynamic parameters are developed by different ideas: the spiral model with a harmonic oscillator, the bank model with trigonometric functions of the bank angle and the guide model with the changing rule of guidance variables. Meanwhile, the comparison discussion is concluded to show the novelty and advantage of these models.Finally, a performance assessment in different simulation cases is presented and detailed analysis is revealed. The results show that the proposed models perform excellent properties. Moreover, the guide model produces the best tracking performance and the bank model shows the second; however, the spiral model does not outperform the maneuvering reentry vehicle(MaRV) model markedly.

A Rapid Analysis Tool for Aerodynamics/Aerothermodynamics of Hypersonic Vehicles

A rapid engineering surface panel method to analyze aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics of hypersonic vehicles is developed.To obtain the surface pressure distribution of a hypersonic vehicle,the local surface inclination method is applied to calculate the pressure coefficient for each surface panel element,of which the normal vector is corrected first by using an efficient data structure and Rey-casting algorithm,local Reynolds numbers are calculated according to the geometric streamline method,then the aerodynamic heating flux is computed by both reference enthalpy relations and Reynolds analogy method.Several typical test cases are performed and the results indicate that,the developed tool is effective in predicting the aerodynamics/aerothermodynamics for complex geometry of hypersonic vehicle in a wide range of Mach numbers with a sufficient accuracy.