Flight dynamics modeling environment for controller design and analysis of hypersonic vehicles

Hypersonic vehicles feature unique stability and control properties due to specific aerothermodynamic and propulsive characteristics which are not existent with conventional airplanes. Simplified models may be used to provide an insight into the inherent dynamics. Furthermore, they can be used to develop basic control systems to counter and eliminate the deficiencies present with the inherent dynamic behavior of the system. However, more elaborate models are required to cover complex configuration specific aspects like engine or sensor dynamics or other effects present with real aircraft configurations. This paper describes an attempt to implement a flight dynamics modeling environment capable of treating more complex vehicle dynamics. Another focus of the paper is to present approaches for increasing the level of automation of flight dynamics and control design tasks for hypersonic vehicles in order to allow analyzing the maturity of the control concepts developed for the simple models in a more realistic environment.