Numerical analysis of the oscillation susceptibility along the path of longitudinal flight equilibria of a reentry vehicle

In this paper, it is shown that when the automatic flight control system (AFCS) is decoupled, then on the path of longitudinal flight equilibria of the ALFLEX reentry vehicle, there exist saddle–node bifurcations resulting in oscillations: when the elevator angle exceeds the bifurcation value, the angle of attack and pitch rate oscillate with the same period, while the pitch angle increases or decreases infinitely. Hence, the orbit of the system is spiraling. It is also shown that a mild (non-catastrophic) stability loss occurs due to the bifurcations. Based on this analysis, an automatic flight control design is developed.