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An Application of Cornu’s Spiral to the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of an Unrotated Rocket

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2016

Extract

The mathematical theory of rocket motion has been given by Rosser, Newton and Gross (1947) for the case of unrotated, and slowly rotated, rockets. A rigorous treatment of the subject has been given also by Rankin (1949) in a recent paper which is applicable to both unrotated and rotated rockets.

One of the main objects of such work is the derivation of formulae which may be used to predict the behaviour of the rocket under the action of various disturbing influences. Thus, an angular deviation of the rocket from its normal trajectory may be caused by the thrust not passing through the centre of gravity, by the action of a crosswind (usually assumed constant in the theory), or by the rocket being launched with an initial yaw or initial angular velocity about an axis at right angles to the rocket axis. Malaligned fins may also cause such a deviation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 1951

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References

Rosser, J. B., Newton, R. R., and Gross, G. L., Mathematical Theory of Rocket Flight, 1st edition, 1947 Google Scholar
Rankin, R. A., 1949, Phil. Trans., Series A, No. 837, Vol. 241, 457585.Google Scholar
Knight, R. C., 1948, Math. Gaz., Vol. 32, No. 300, 187194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, W. L., and Gordon, A. R., 1931, J. Phys. Chem., 35, 27852884.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preston, T., The Theory of Light, 4th edition, 1912, Ex. 9, p. 293.Google Scholar