New literal approximations for the longitudinal dynamic characteristics of flexible flight vehicles

The goal of the literal approximation method is to obtain simple literal (analytical) approximations for key dynamic characteristics of flexible flight vehicles. A basic question regarding the method is its usefulness as an additional design tool for existing design and simulation procedures. Two aspects of this question are: (1) ease of derivation and use of the literal approximations, and (2) the suitability of one set of literal approximations to describe the dynamics of a large set of significantly different vehicles. These issues are addressed by incorporating symbolic manipulation software into the literal approximation method for the analysis of a fifth order model of the longitudinal dynamics of a flexible flight vehicle. The automated literal approximation generated in this fashion reduces the manual derivation time by an approximate factor of four. A single set of literal approximations is shown to provide adequate approximations for the dynamics of significantly different flight vehicles configurations, such as an aircraft, a missile, and a hypersonic vehicle.