Qualitative Stability Characteristics of a Flexible Missile Subjected to a Circulatory Thrust.

Abstract : The stability characteristics of an elastic, flexible missile of constant mass, modelled mathematically as a system consisting of three rigid bars elastically hinged at the joints and subjected to a constant circulatory thrust, are examined. Plots of eigencurves are presented and used to identify the regions of stability, divergence, and flutter in related stability maps. For anti-tangential and sub-tangential thrusts, the system is found to be divergent for any sufficiently small, positive thrust. Moreover, flutter does not occur for anti-tangential and super-tangential thrusts. (Author)