Closed-Loop Bifurcation Analysis for a Novel Moving Mass Flight Vehicle

In this paper, nonlinear dynamics properties regarding a novel moving mass flight vehicle with large mass ratio are investigated based on bifurcation theory and continuation methods. Of particular interest is the impact of variation of command angle-of-attack and moving mass parameters on the controlled system. The nonlinear longitudinal dynamics model is established and the controller is designed using Immersion and Invariance method. Bifurcation analysis is conducted both from the prospective of static bifurcation and dynamical bifurcation, results of the closed-loop system are compared with the uncontrolled case. Numerical results obtained from bifurcation diagrams indicate that although the introduction of control system is capable of eliminating unstable regions caused by the variation of moving mass parameters, the change of command angle-of-attack still lead to Hopf bifurcation. Furthermore, analysis of limit cycle branch reveals the consecutive birth of Limit Point of Cycle bifurcation (LPC), then based on which a more detailed nonlinear dynamics process of the closed-loop system is analyzed.