Convex Approach to Three-Dimensional Launch Vehicle Ascent Trajectory Optimization

作     者：Benedikter, Boris Zavoli, Alessandro Colasurdo, Guido Pizzurro, Simone Cavallini, Enrico 

作者机构：Sapienza Univ Rome Dept Mech & Aerosp Engn Via Eudossiana 18 I-00184 Rome Italy Italian Space Agcy Launchers & Space Transportat Dept Via Politecn Snc I-00133 Rome Italy Italian Space Agcy Sci Res Dept Solid Prop & Launch Vehicle Syst Eng Via Politecn Snc I-00133 Rome Italy 

出 版 物：《JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE CONTROL AND DYNAMICS》 (制导、控制和动力学杂志)

年 卷 期：2021年第44卷第6期

页      面：1116-1131页

核心收录：

学科分类：12[管理学] 1201[管理学-管理科学与工程(可授管理学、工学学位)] 08[工学] 0804[工学-仪器科学与技术] 0825[工学-航空宇航科学与技术] 

基　　金：Italian Space Agency [2019-4-HH.0 CUP F86C17000080005] Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome [2019-4-HH.0 CUP F86C17000080005] 

主　　题：Launch Vehicle Configurations Trajectory Optimization Aerodynamic Force Atmospheric Drag Propellant Rocket Trajectories Earth Nonlinear Programming Three Degrees of Freedom Adaptive Mesh Refinement 

摘      要：This paper deals with the optimization of the ascent trajectory of a multistage launch vehicle, from liftoff to the payload injection into the target orbit, considering inverse-square gravity acceleration and aerodynamic forces. A combination of lossless and successive convexification techniques is adopted to generate a sequence of convex problems that rapidly converges to the original problem solution. An automatic initialization strategy is proposed to make the solution process completely autonomous. In particular, a novel three-step continuation procedure is developed and proved to be more efficient than simpler strategies. This approach relies on the solution of intermediate problems, which either neglect atmospheric drag or fix the time-lengths of the launch vehicle ascent phases, that are solved in succession, gradually passing from easier instances of the optimization problem to the originally intended problem. State-of-the-art techniques to deal with such a complex problem are adopted to enhance the convergence rate, including safeguarding modifications, such as virtual controls and an adaptive trust region. To assess the validity of the proposed approach in a practical scenario, numerical results are presented for two representative practical applications, using as reference a Falcon 9 launch vehicle.