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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adaptive fault-tolerant controller design for airbreathing hypersonic vehicle with input saturation

The problem of fault-tolerant control is discussed for the longitudinal model of an airbreathing hypersonic vehicle （AHV） with actuator faults and external disturbances. Firstly, a fault-tolerant control strategy is presented for the longitudinal model of an AHV, which guarantees that velocity and altitude track their reference trajectories at an exponential convergence rate. However, this method needs to know the minimum value of the actuator efficiency factor and the upper bound of the external disturbances, which makes it not easy to implement. Then an improved adaptive fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed, where two adaptive laws are employed to estimate the upper bound of the external disturbances and the minimum value of the actuator efficiency factor, respectively. Secondly, the problem of designing a control scheme with control constraints is further considered, and a new adaptive fault-tolerant control strategy with input saturation is designed to guarantee that velocity and altitude track their reference trajectories. Finally, simulation results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Polytopic LPV modeling and gain-scheduled switching control for a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle

A novel gain-scheduled switching control method for the longitudinal motion of a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle （FAHV） is proposed. Firstly, velocity and altitude are selected as scheduling variables, a polytopic linear parameter varying （LPV） model is developed to represent the complex nonlinear longitudinal dynamics of the FAHV. Secondly, based on the obtained polytopic LPV model, the flight envelope is divided into four smaller subregions, and four gain-scheduled controllers are designed for these parameter subregions. Then, by the defined switching characteristic function, these gain-scheduled controllers are switched in order to guarantee the closed-loop FAHV system to be asymptotically stable and satisfy a given tracking error performance criterion. The condition of gain-scheduled switching controller synthesis is given in terms of linear matrix inequalities （LMIs） which can be easily solved by using standard software packages. Finally, simulation results show the effectiveness of the presented method.

Tracking control for air-breathing hypersonic cruise vehicle based on tangent linearization approach

This paper is focused on developing a tracking controller for a hypersonic cruise vehicle using tangent linearization approach.The design of flight control systems for air-breathing hypersonic vehicles is a highly challenging task due to the unique characteristics of the vehicle dynamics.Motivated by recent results on tangent linearization control,the tracking control problem for the hypersonic cruise vehicle is reduced to that of a feedback stabilizing controller design for a linear time-varying system which can be accomplished by a standard design method of frozen-time control.Through a proper model transformation,it can be proven that the tracking error of the designed closed-loop system decays exponentially.Simulation studies are conducted for trimmed cruise conditions of 110000 ft and Mach 15 where the responses of the vehicle to step changes in altitude and velocity are evaluated.The effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated by simulation results.

Adaptive dynamic surface control for air-breathing hypersonic vehicle

This paper describes an adaptive control approach for an air-breathing hypersonic vehicle. The control objective is to provide robust altitudes and velocity tracking in the presence of model uncertainties and varying disturbances. A fuzzy-neural disturbance observer is developed to estimate uncertainties and disturbances, and the adaptive controller is synthesized by the dynamic surface approach combing with the observer. The tracking error at the steady state can be guaranteed to converge to inside of a small residue set which the size of the set can be an arbitrary small value. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented approach.

The Full Flowpath Analysis of a Hypersonic Vehicle

A numerical study has been carried out to investigate the full flow path and aerodynamic characteristics of a hypersonic vehicle at a 7.0 free stream Mach number. Results indicate that the inlet started and unstarted operations have remarkable effects on the flow pattern of the full flow path. When the inlet operates in a started mode, the transverse pressure gradient generated by the forebody alters the air captured characteristics and the entering flow quality of the inlet. Furthermore, the expansion process of the nozzle jet flow is obviously affected by the external flow field around the afterbody with the cross section shape transiting from a near rectangle at the exit of the nozzle to a near triangle at the tail of the vehicle. When the inlet operates in an unstarted mode, the aerodynamic instability can be observed in the full flow path of the vehicle. Due to the oscillation of the external compressed shock wave and nozzle jet flow, the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle vary periodically with the lift-drag ratio changing from 0.25 to 2.09. Finally, by comparing to the experimental data, the reliability of the CFD is verified.

Multiobjective fault detection and isolation for flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle

An application of the multiobjective fault detection and isolation（FDI） approach to an air-breathing hypersonic vehicle（HSV） longitudinal dynamics subject to disturbances is presented.Maintaining sustainable and safe flight of HSV is a challenging task due to its strong coupling effects,variable operating conditions and possible failures of system components.A common type of system faults for aircraft including HSV is the loss of effectiveness of its actuators and sensors.To detect and isolate multiple actuator/sensor failures,a faulty linear parameter-varying（LPV） model of HSV is derived by converting actuator/system component faults into equivalent sensor faults.Then a bank of LPV FDI observers is designed to track individual fault with minimum error and suppress the effects of disturbances and other fault signals.The simulation results based on the nonlinear flexible HSV model and a nominal LPV controller demonstrate the effectiveness of the fault estimation technique for HSV.

Research progress on thermal protection materials and structures of hypersonic vehicles

Hypersonic vehicles represent future trends of military equipments and play an important role in future war. Thermal protection materials and structures, Which relate to the safety of hypersonic vehicles, are one of the most key techniques in design and manufacture of hypersonic vehicles. Among these materials and Structures, such as metallic temperature protection structure, the temperature ceramics and carbon/carbon composites are usually adopted in design. The recent progresses of research and applica- tion of ultra-high temperature materials in preparation, oxidation resistance, mechanical and physical characterization are summarized.

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.