Preliminary Static Aeroelastic Analysis of Reusable Launch Vehicle Stability and Control Derivatives

Abstract

During the development and design of the X-33 reusable launch vehicle, loads and control analyses had been done using propulsive and aerodynamic loads derived from such sources as computational e uid dynamics and wind-tunnel models of a rigid vehicle. Required control forces and moments were determined using rigid vehicle trajectory analyses, and the detailed control load distributions were determined for achieving the required control forces and moments, again using rigid vehicle analyses. However, static aeroelastic effects on load distributions were not being considered. The objective of the work reported here was the development of models and solutions for including static aeroelasticity in the calculation of X-33 loads and in the determination of stability and control derivatives. The theory underlying the NASTRAN solutions is presented, and some of the results for the stability and control derivatives are discussed.