Aerospace Science and Technology
Reza Jamilnia
Abstract
In this paper, in order to simultaneously optimize the staging and trajectory of launch vehicles, changes are made in the structure of the trajectory optimization problem. In this approach, the flight times of all stages are considered freely and as optimization variables. During the solution and in ...
Read More
In this paper, in order to simultaneously optimize the staging and trajectory of launch vehicles, changes are made in the structure of the trajectory optimization problem. In this approach, the flight times of all stages are considered freely and as optimization variables. During the solution and in each iteration, by using the values of the flight times in that iteration and the fuel consumption rate of each stage, the masses of the fuel and structure of the stages and the initial and instantaneous masses of the vehicle are calculated. By minimizing the initial mass as the objective function of the integrated optimization problem, the optimal flight trajectory is obtained in the form of the optimal state and control values, and the optimal budget of the fuel and structure masses between different stages is calculated. In this paper, to implement the dynamic equations, the direct collocation method is used, and to approximate the variables, the B-spline curves are used. By using the B-spline curves, despite the discreteness of the relevant parameters as optimization variables, a continuous concept for the optimal solution can be created. The presented approach in this paper for integrated optimization of staging and trajectory and the use of B-spline curves in the approximation of the multiphase problem with free final times can lead to reduce the initial weight of the Europa 2 launch vehicle by 30% to perform a specific mission.
Reza Jamilnieya
Abstract
In this paper, a new method for optimal guidance in the atmospheric return phase is proposed. This guidance method is based on instantaneous and online trajectory optimization in which optimal guidance commands are obtained from sequential solving of optimal control problems. In order to solve optimal ...
Read More
In this paper, a new method for optimal guidance in the atmospheric return phase is proposed. This guidance method is based on instantaneous and online trajectory optimization in which optimal guidance commands are obtained from sequential solving of optimal control problems. In order to solve optimal control problems quickly and online, a combined approach including the concepts of differential flatness, B-spline curves, direct collocation, and non-linear programming is used. By performing the trajectory optimization process in the form of closed-loop control and implementing the receding horizon control, the open-loop responses of optimal control can be dependent on the instantaneous conditions of the object and the target. In this case, guidance commands can be generated based on various objective functions and constraints, and model uncertainties can be considered by entering the vehicle conditions into the trajectory optimizer. In order to show the capabilities of the proposed guidance method, a numerical example of the guidance of a reentry vehicle in the presence of model uncertainties is presented.