L. Galembeck, J.B.M. Cavalcanti, B.O. Silva, A. Passaro, A.C. Fraile Jr., M.Z.J. Ferreira, C.H.M. Souza, D.J.F.V. Boas, C.B. Mendonça, J. Steelant
DOI Number XXX-YYY-ZZZ
Conference Number HiSST-2022-0426
This paper presents a system identification chain of a hypersonic glide vehicle in low Mach numbers
(below Mach 2). The system was modelled and simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
using Fluent® as software, with density and pressure-based solvers to obtain its aerodynamic
coefficients for simulation and control purposes. A 1st and 2nd order spatial discretization was made to
generate the meshes with around 7.5 million elements and a Spalart-Allmaras turbulence method was
used. The complete Aerodynamic database will be obtained after computing the stability derivatives
using the Vortex Lattice Method (VLM). With the aerodynamic coefficients it’s possible to load the glider
model in a simulation environment, developed in Matlab Simulink, and check the behaviour of the
aircraft in flight. Using the simulation environment and control system techniques it is possible to
develop a control system able to manage the vehicle in different conditions below Mach 2 until splash-
down. An external layer is then added to the control algorithm in order to perform a parameter
identification in-flight experiment when the correct conditions are obtained. The experiment is planned
to perform a series of doublet manoeuvres at Mach 2 and Mach 1.35. After the flight the embedded
sensors data will be analysed and compared to the numerical model in Simulink aiming to improve the
model within the limits of the experiment.