Aerodynamic Stabilization of a Finless Projectile with Active Nose Deflection

Abstract

A fundamental consideration in the design of projectiles is the method of aerodynamic stabilization. The two categories of passive stabilization are fin stabilization and spin stabilization. Smart projectiles employ one of these two methods and enable active maneuvering with a physical control mechanism such as canards, pulse jets, microspoilers. This paper considers a moveable nose control mechanism that can be used for both stabilization and maneuvering. In particular, the paper focuses on the ability of a moveable nose to actively stabilize a nonspinning or slowly spinning projectile and permit the reduction or elimination of fins for stabilization. For a standard exemplar projectile, it is shown that an actively controlled nose is able to stabilize a nonspinning and finless projectile with reasonable control authority and associated bandwidth.