Chinese

Journal of
Aeronautics
Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 474-479
www.elsevier.com/locate/cja
Modeling and Simulating Dynamics of Missiles with
Deflectable Nose Control
Gao Yuan*, Gu Liangxian, Pan Lei
College of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xian 710072, China
Received 22 September 2008; accepted 3 April 2009
Abstract
This article investigates the dynamic characteristics of deflectable nose missiles with rotary single-channel control. After in-
troduction of effective attack and sideslip angles as well as quasi-body coordinates based on the spin characteristics of the mis-
siles body, an integrated rigid kinetic model of missile with deflectable nose control is set up in the quasi-body coordinates con-
sidering the interaction between the missiles nose and body by using rootless multi-rigid-body system dynamics and is linearized.
Then an analysis with simulation is conducted to investigate the coupling characteristics between the channels, the influences of
nose deflection on the body and the dynamic characteristics of missiles body. The results indicate that various channels of mis-
siles with deflectable nose control are coupled cross-linked; the nose deflection tends to make the body move in the opposite
direction and, finally, evidences the correctness and reasonability of the kinetic model proposed by this article.
Keywords: kinetic model; deflectable nose; single-channel control; multi-rigid-body system dynamics; computer simulation
1. Introduction
1

The deflectable nose control, as the name suggests,
is realized by angular deflection of a section of or
whole of missiles nose in the flow field off the mis-
siles centerline to create a pressure difference between
the windward and leeward sides of the nose. This dif-
ference produces aerodynamic control forces and mo-
ments relative to missiles mass center to enable the
missile to attain a certain angle of attack and, finally,
an overload for maneuvering. Similar is the deflectable
nose control to the traditional canard control, it is su-
perior due to its better aerodynamic characteristics,
shorter response time and increased effectiveness and
maneuverability. Moreover, the control forces and
moments produced by nose deflection increase rapidly
with Mach number increasing, which makes it an ideal
method for controlling supersonic and hypersonic mis-
siles.
A rather unique control device notwithstanding, the
idea of using the deflectable nose as a control tool is
not new for missile control practices. As early as in
1946, Dr. R. H. Goddard
[1]
patented a concept of

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-29-88492783.
E-mail address: gaoyuannwpu@163.com
Foundation item: Weapons Preliminary Research Key Foundation of
China (9140A01010106HK0307)

1000-9361/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi: 10.1016/S1000-9361(08)60128-4

moveable nose and tail for actively steering aircraft,
particularly, rocket-craft under different atmospheric
and operating conditions. Enlightened by them, other
researchers perceived that, like canard control able to
increase control effectiveness, deflectable nose might
be applied to control flights of different kinds of mis-
siles and flying weapons. Limited by the objective
conditions, earlier studies on the deflectable nose con-
trol were mostly focused on the tests and analysis of
aerodynamic characteristics. Numerous wind-tunnel
tests
[2-7]
, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analy-
ses
[8-10]
and free flight tests
[11]
were carried out to in-
vestigate the aerodynamic characteristics of the de-
flectable nose missiles to judge whether the idea of
deflectable nose could be used as a base to design an
effective flight control device. The results evidenced
that it was more effective than the canard and tail fins
control. Recently, this control concept has also been
adopted in the Man-Portable Air-Defense System of
the UK
[12]
, the Magnetostrictive Missile Guidance
System
[13]
and Smart Bullet Project of USA.
The mathematic model of the missiles body is a
main base for missiles dynamic analysis and control
system design. The kinetic model of the deflectable
nose missile with three-channel control has been estab-
lished in Refs.[14]-[17]. Three-channel control needs
two actuators to realize a 2D movement of nose
[18-19]
.
Moreover, it also requires a special device to control
the rolling movements of the missile. All these in-
crease missiles weight and structural complexity,
No.5 Gao Yuan et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 474-479 475

which could be overcome with help of a single-channel
control.
This article is meant to make an investigation into
the dynamic properties of a deflectable nose missile
with single-channel control. Considering the interac-
tion between the missiles nose and body, an integrated
rigid dynamic model is set up by using rootless
multi-rigid-body system dynamics in the quasi-body
coordinates. Academic analysis and computerized
simulation are performed to investigate the coupling
and dynamic characteristics of missile and the influ-
ences of nose deflection on missiles movements.
2. Description and Definition
A whole deflectable nose missile is composed of
two parts: a nose and an after-body (see Fig.1). Hinged
on the after-body, the nose can be deflected in the lon-
gitudinal plane of the body. In order to reduce the load
torque of the noses mass center relative to the hinge
center and the variation of the missiles mass center
caused by the noses deflection, the hinge center
should be arranged to coincide with the noses mass
center.

Fig.1 Sketch of deflectable nose missile.
In Fig.1, the point O denotes the entire missiles
center of gravity, O
n
the noses and O
b
the after-bodys.
And the distance between O and O
n
is represented by
r
1
and that between O and O
b
by

r
2
. The directions of r
1
and r
2
are designated positive from O to O
n
and to O
b
.
Let the noses coordinate be O
n
x
n
y
n
z
n
with the origin
coincident with the noses mass center O
n
. The axis
O
n
x
n
is the noses centerline and the direction pointing
to the front of the nose is specified positive. The axis
O
n
y
n
lies in the longitudinal plane perpendicular to the
axis O
n
x
n
with the upward direction as positive. Then
axes O
n
z
n
, O
n
x
n
and O
n
y
n
form a right-hand Cartesian
coordinate system.
The deflectable nose missile adopts the sin-
gle-channel control. In the flight, as the missile rotates
around its centerline at an angular velocity of , the
nose deflection angle varies to and fro in the range of
+o and o. The missile can be manipulated according
to a changeable nose deflection scheme. From the
definitions of attack and sideslip angles, it is under-
stood that since both angles change periodically as the
body rotates, they could no longer be suitable to de-
scribe the motion of missile with delectable nose con-
trol. This article uses the effective attack and sideslip
angles to establish a kinetic model of the deflectable
nose missile in the quasi-body coordinate system. For
details about the definitions of effective attack and
sideslip angles and quasi-body coordinates as well as
their conversion relationships, refer to Ref.[20].
3. Kinetic Model of Missiles with Deflectable Nose
Control
To study the dynamic characteristics of missiles with
deflectable nose control, suppose the missile is a rigid
body without elastic deformation; then the deflectable
nose missile becomes a typical rootless multi-rigid-
body system, which the multi-rigid-body system dy-
namics could be applied to
[21-22]
. The entire missiles
mass center O serves to be the base point; the coordi-
nate system which translates relative to the earth coor-
dinates is assumed to be a zero rigid body, and the
nose and after-body to be adjacent rigid bodies.
3.1. Kinetic equations of missiles mass center move-
ments
Assume that V denotes the velocity vector of the
missiles mass center O in the earth coordinate system;
V
n
that of the noses mass center O
n
and V
b
that of the
after-bodys mass center O
b
. Again e
1
the angular ve-
locity vector of the bodys coordinates relative to the
earth coordinates; e
n
that of the noses coordinates.
And again m the mass of the entire missile; m
n
that of
nose and m
b
that of after-body, amongst which the fol-
lowing relationship is tenable:
n b
m m m = + .
According to the velocity synthesis theorem
[23]
, the
velocity vectors of the noses mass center O
n
and the
after-bodys mass center O
b
can be expressed by
n 1 1
b 1 2
= +
`
= +
)
V V r
V V r
e
e
(1)
then the momentums of the nose and the after-body are
n n n n 1 1
b b b b 1 2
( )
( )
m m
m m
= +
`
= +
)
K = V V r
K = V V r
e
e
(2)
the momentum of the entire missile is
1 n 1 b 2
( ) m m m = + + K V r r e (3)
From the definition of mass center, can be obtained
n 1 b 2
m m + = 0 r r
then Eq.(3) can be simplified into
m = K V
(4)
The kinetic equation of missiles mass center
movements in the trajectory coordinates is
2
d
d
m
t
| |
+ =
|
\ .
V
V F e (5)
where e
2
is angular velocity vector of the trajectory
coordinates relative to the earth coordinates, F is the
resultant force of all external forces acting on the mis-
siles body.
476 Gao Yuan et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 474-479 No.5

By expanding Eq.(5) and projecting all external
forces acting on the missile to the trajectory coordinate
system, can be obtained
* *
* * *
* *
* * * * *
* * * *
* * *
* *
d
cos cos sin
d
(sin cos cos sin sin )
d
cos sin cos
d
(sin cos cos sin sin )
cos (cos cos sin sin
sin ) sin cos sin
d
cos sin cos
d
v v
v v
v
v v
v
v v
V
m P X G
t
Y
mV Y Z G
t
P
Y
mV Y Z
t
o
o
o | u
o | |
u
u
o o |
o o |
|

u
=

= +
+ +

= +
<
* * * * *
* * * *
* * *
(sin sin cos sin cos )
cos (cos sin sin sin
cos ) sin cos cos
v v
v
v v
P
Y
o
o o |
o o |
|

(
+
)
<
(6)
where o
*
, |
*
and
*
v
are effective angle of attack, side-
slip, and an effective velocity inclination angle
[20]
; P is
the motor thrust; X, Y and Z are the drag force, the lift
force and the side force respectively. V is the velocity,
G the missiles weight, u the trajectory inclination an-
gle, the rolling angle,
v
the trajectory azimuth an-
gle, and Y
o
aerodynamic control force produced by
nose deflection.
3.2. Kinetic equations of missiles rotation around
mass center
Let m' be the mass of one particle on the missiles
nose, and V' and r' its velocity and radius vectors in
the earth coordinate system. Similarly, let m be the
mass of one particle on the after-body, and V and r
the same vectors in the same coordinate system. Again
supposing that the radius vectors of the aforesaid two
particles relative to the missiles mass center O to be p
and q, then the moments of momentum of the noses
and after-bodys movements relative to the missiles
mass center O can be written as
n n 1 n 1 n n
b b 2 b 1
O
O
m m
m m
' ' ' = = + +

`
'' '' = = +

)
_
_
H p V r V J J
H q V r V J
e e
e
(7)
where J
n
, J
b
are inertia of missiles nose and after-
body relative to O respectively,
n
'
J is inertia of mis-
siles nose relative to O
n.

Then the moment of momentum of the entire missile
relative to O is
1 n n O
'
= + H J J e e (8)
where J is the inertia of the entire missile relative to O,
and J = J
b
+ J
n
.
The kinetic equation of missiles rotating around
mass center in quasi-body coordinate system is
d
d
O O
O O
'
t t
= +
H H
H = M e (9)
where ' is the angular velocity vector in quasi-body
coordinates relative to the earth coordinates.
As the deflectable nose missile is axisymmetric,
each axis of the quasi-body coordinate system is the
missile inertial spindle and J
y4
~ J
z4
. By expanding
Eq.(9) and considering the nose only deflecting in the
longitudinal plane of missiles body, can be acquired
4
4 n 4 4
n 4 4 4
4
4 4 4 4 4 4 4
n 4 n 4 4 4
4
4 4 4 4 4 4 4
n 4 n 4 4 4
d
( cos
d
sin )
d
( )
d
sin cos
d
( )
d
cos sin
x
x z z y
y z x
y
y x z x z z z
z y z z x y
z
z y x y x y y
z z z y x z
J J
t
J M
J J J J
t
J J M
J J J J
t
J J M
e
o e
e
e
e e e
o o e
e
e e e
o o e

+ +

+ +

+ +

=
)

(10)
where J
x4
, J
y4
and J
z4
are inertia of the entire missile
relative to the three axes of quasi-body coordinate sys-
tem, J
nx4
, J
ny4
and J
nz4
inertia of the missiles nose rela-
tive to the three axes of quasi-body coordinate system,
e
x4
, e
y4
and e
z4
projections in quasi-body coordinates
of angular velocity vector e
1
, and M
x4
, M
y4
and M
z4

projections of moments of all external forces relative
to missiles mass center.
3.3. Linearizing kinetic equations
Suppose that the axisymmetric aerodynamic forces
of the deflectable nose missile remain unchanged
while the missile rotates around its centerline and the
rotary angular velocity in the disturbed missile
movements is the same as in the undisturbed missile
movements with small effective attack and sideslip
angles. Meanwhile, by omitting the speed deviator
equation and the speed deviators effects in other equa-
tions and linearizing Eq.(6) and Eq.(10) under the
small perturbation assumption, the disturbed kinetic
equations can be obtained as follows:
* *
4 4 5
*
4 1 4 2 6 4 4 8 4
3 7 4 7
z z
z z x y x
z x y z
a a
a a a a
a a a
o o e o
e e o e e e
o e o o

+ =

+ + + =
`

(11)
* *
4 4 5
*
4 1 4 2 6 4 4 8 4
3 7 4 7
y y
y y x z x
y x z y
a a
a a a a
a a a
| | e o
e e | e e e
o e o o

+ =

+ + + + =
`

+
)

(12)
where a
6
= J
x4
/J
z4,
a
7
= J
nz4
/J
z4
, and a
8
=
4
4
( /
x
z
m qSL
e

4
)( )
z
J L V . For the detailed definitions of other pa-
No.5 Gao Yuan et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 474-479 477

rameters, refer to Ref.[24].
The effective nose deflection angles in the yawing
and pitching directions,
y
o and
z
o , can be calculated
by
[25]

0
0
2
cos

2
sin

y
z
o o u
o o u

)
(13)
where u
0
is the time for switching nose deflection di-
rection.
4. Analysis of Kinetic Model of Missile
4.1. Analysis of coupling
In Eqs.(11)-(12),
6 4 4 x y
a e e and
6 4 4 x y
a e e

represent
the gyrostatic moment characteristics in missiles lon-
gitudinal and lateral directions, and
8 4 x
a e the Magnus
moment characteristics. Obviously, the gyrostatic and
Magnus effects caused by missiles rotation will pro-
duce the cross-linked coupling among the pitching,
yawing and rolling movements. In addition, due to
bodys rotation and noses deflection, the effective
lateral nose deflection velocity
y
o

would couple with

the missiles longitudinal motion and the effective lon-
gitudinal nose deflection velocity
z
o

with the mis-

siles lateral motion.
4.2. Analysis of interactions between nose and body
From Eqs.(11)-(12), it can be seen that the missiles
longitudinal and lateral angular motions are not only
related to the nose deflection angle o, but also to the
deflection angular velocity o

and angular accelera-

tion o

. In order to clarify the interactions between

missiles nose and body, simulations are performed on
the dynamic model. Also, with the intention of high-
lighting the influences of nose deflection on missiles
movements, the following assumptions should be
made: (1) absence of coupling effects between diffe-
rent channels; (2) no external forces acting on the mis-
sile and (3) zero initial angular velocity, angular accel-
eration, effective attack and sideslip angles.
Fig.2 shows the curves stating the variation of effec-
tive attack and sideslip angles with time and Fig.3 the
curves of angular velocity in the body and quasi-body
coordinate systems. From the curves of o
*
and |
*
on
one side and e
y4
and e
z4
on the other, it can be seen
that the nose deflection will cause bodys motion in the
opposite direction. Thus in the missiles flight, there
will be an additional rotary movement of missile body
opposite to nose deflection as the missile rotates.
From the simulation curves, it can also be seen that,
consistent with the results of Ref.[14], the curves of
the effective attack and sideslip angles versus time are

Fig.2 Curves of attack and sideslip angles vs time.

Fig.3 Curves of angular velocities vs time.
parabolas, while those of angular velocities in the body
and quasi-body coordinate systems are straight lines.
This is because the angular velocity is a linear function
of time, and the effective attack and sideslip angles are
quadratic ones. From Figs.2-3, it can be discovered
that the attack and sideslip angles and angular veloci-
ties in body coordinate system are subjected to a peri-
odical variation with the same frequency of missiles
rotation around its centerline. Hence, these parameters
are no longer suitable to describe the motion of the
deflectable nose missile.
5. Analysis of Missile Dynamic Characteristics
In order to investigate the dynamic characteristics of
the missile with deflectable nose control, simulation of
Eqs.(11)-(12) at a certain characteristic point is per-
formed. According to the principles of single-channel
control, the magnitude and direction of the effective
control force can be controlled if the direction of nose
deflection changes four times per missiles revolu-
tion
[25]
. As this article is supposed to carry out a quali-
tative analysis regardless of the magnitude of the ef-
fective control force, it is maintained to be the maxi-
478 Gao Yuan et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 474-479 No.5

mum and then the direction of nose deflection only
needs to change twice per missiles revolution (see
Fig.4).

Fig.4 Schematic showing nose deflection direction chang-
ing twice per missiles revolution.
Figs.5-6 show the transition curves of body open-
loop step response under the conditions of Ma = 3 and
u
0
= 60. They unveil the fact that the deflectable nose
missile is dynamically stable but seriously under-
damping due to the large overshoot and the long tran-
sition time of body open-loop response. This should be
improved in control system design.

Fig.5 Open-loop response curves of effective attack and
sideslip angles.

Fig.6 Open-loop response curves of angular velocities.
When u
0
= 60, from Eq.(13), the effective nose de-
flection angles in the yawing and pitching directions
are 1.631
y
o =
D
and 2.735
z
o =
D
respectively. By
referring to Figs.5-6, it is correct and reasonable to
find the consistency of direction of nose deflection
with missiles movements.
6. Conclusions
This article has established the kinetic model of a
deflectable nose missile with rotary single-channel
control by utilizing rootless multi-rigid-body system
dynamics. Simulation and academic analysis have
been performed on the interactions between the mis-
siles nose and body. From the results, the following
conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The pitching, yawing and rolling channels of a
missile with deflectable nose control are coupled
cross-linked because of the missiles rotation around
its centerline.
(2) The attack and sideslip angles could no longer be
suitable to describe missiles motion because of its
self-rotation.
(3) It is feasible to apply the single-channel control
to the deflectable nose missiles.
(4) The missiles nose deflection tends to cause the
body to move in the opposite direction.
(5) The kinetic model proposed by this article is
correct and reasonable. Therefore, it can serve the
foundation of control system design of deflectable
nose missiles.
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Biography:
Gao Yuan Born in 1982, he received B.S. and M.S. de-
grees from Northwestern Polytechnical University in 2004
and 2007 respectively. Now he is a Ph.D. candidate in the
College of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical Univer-
sity. His main research interests lie in flight vehicle design
and missile control system design.
E-mail: gaoyuannwpu@163.com