AEROELASTIC STABILITY OF SLENDER, SPINNING MISSILES

The complete coupled equations of motion that govern the static and dynamic aeroelastic stability of spinning, flexible missiles are derived. A Lagrangian approach is employed that yields terms that produce nonlinear coupling between the elastic deflections and the rigid-body motion parameters. The equations are reduced to a linear set for stability analysis. First-order aerodynamics are formulated for application to a hypersonic missile. Some numerical examples are given that reveal a destabilizing influence of structural damping at certain roll rates for a particular missile configuration.