Dynamics design for multiple launch rocket system using transfer matrix method for multibody system

Abstract

Dynamics design for complex mechanical systems has become an important research field and development direction at present, capturing attentions of an increasing number of engineers and scientists worldwide. Based on many advantages of the transfer matrix method for multibody system in studying multibody system dynamics, a design problem of a multiple launch rocket system is solved in this paper. Particular attention is addressed to model actions of the exhaust flow on the multiple rocket launcher, which are associated with firing order and firing intervals of rockets. Combined with a genetic algorithm, firing order and firing intervals are optimized to achieve optimum impact point dispersion reduction. The results of numerical simulation and verification tests show good agreement, while the dispersion characteristics of rockets have been improved in a low-cost way.