Optimal and on-board near-optimal midcourse guidance

Optimal midcourse guidance is examined for an air-to-air missile featuring boost-coast-sustain propulsion. A vertical plane, point-mass model is studied with load factor as a control variable. Time-range-energy optimal trajectories are computed, open-loop, via the usual necessary conditions and a multiple-shooting algorithm. A requirement on terminal velocity magnitude is examined for its effect on firing range. Next, a study of the optimal midcourse guidance problem with reduced-order models is presented. The models under study, in addition to the point-mass model, are: - Singularly perturbed model with y as fast variable; - Point mass model with approximation of the induced-drag; - Energy model. One of the major results in this study is that the reduced-order models are not accurate enough to approximate the optimal trajectories and so are of limited use as reference trajectories in an on-board scheme. Thus, optimal trajectories, computed by using the point-mass model, are selected as the reference trajectories for a closed-loop guidance scheme. Finally, an approach to on-board real-time calculations for an optimal guidance approximation is derived. Extremal fields and neighboring extremal theory ideas are used together with pre-calculated Euler solutions to construct a closed-loop guidance algorithm. The method is applied to the midcourse guidance of an air-to-air missile and was found to perform quite well.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Aerospace Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1988

Author dc:creator

• Katzir, Shevach

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Cliff, Eugene M.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Lutze, Frederick H.
• Stalford, Harold L.
• Burns, John A.
• Bingulac, Stanoje

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/53546

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/53546