Course Listings and Descriptions

LFB/CHM-2-2009: FLIGHT MISBEHAVIOR OF SYMMETRIC MISSILES

The purpose of this course and LFB/CHM-1-2008, Linear Motion of Symmetric Missiles, is to give a complete survey of the flight mechanics of unguided symmetric missiles. Engineers concerned with the measurement of aerodynamic forces and moments acting on symmetric missiles or the prediction of their flight should benefit from this course. Students should refresh their knowledge of the algebra of complex numbers and elementary differential equations. The courses are illustrated by actual experiences of a variety of missiles. Most of the materiel of these courses is based on original work of C. H. Murphy. Participants of both courses will receive 500 pages of lecture materiel and copies of the book The Paris Guns and Project HARP by G. V. Bull and C. H. Murphy.

COURSE OUTLINE

Short Review of Linear Theory
1. Cubic Static Moment Quasilinear Motion
2. Cubic Magnus Moment
3. Nonlinear Damping Moments
4. Amplitude Plane
5. Limit Cycles
Effect of Moving Internal Parts
1. Motion of Spinning Liquid Filled Projectiles
2. Symptom of Payload Flight Instability
Chapman-Kirk Data Analysis
1. Aeroelastic Motion of Long Finned Projectiles
2. Almost Symmetric Missiles
3. Symmetric Missile Flight Instabilities (a summary)
Observed Flight Behavior
1. Circular Limit Motion (ICBM)
2. Port Stable; Starboard Unstable (Navy Weapon A)
3. Moving Payload (8-Inch Nuclear Projectile)
4. Spinning Liquid Payloads (White Phosphorus Shells))
5. Satellite Gun Launch (HARP/Iraqi Supergun)

COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the end of this course, and after completing LFB/CHM-1-2008, each student should have a complete understanding of the unusual motion of missiles caused by nonlinear Magnus moment, nonlinear damping moment or moving payloads. He/she will also understand the influence of elastic bending of a missile on its flight performance. This will allow she/he to determine the causes of any strange poor flight performance. This knowledge would be the basis of an engineering fix.

LECTURER - Charles H. Murphy

Charles H Murphy received his Ph.D. in Aeronautics at Johns Hopkins University in 1957 after completing his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University with a major in Mathematics in 1947. He has published over sixty papers in the scientific literature on missile dynamics and related topics and co-authored the book THE PARIS GUNS AND PROJECT HARP. Dr Murphy was the U.S. originator and director of the U.S.-Canadian project HARP, which made a number of advances in gun technology. As part of this program, Dr. Murphy personally directed the firing of a sounding projectile to the record altitude of 111 miles from an extended 16-inch gun at the Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. He was with the Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) from 1950 until the founding of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in 1992. In December 1997 Dr. Murphy retired from ARL.

Dr. Murphy was the US Army nominee for Outstanding Young Man in Federal Government (1966), received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 1966 Maryland Engineer of the Year Award and the BRL R.H.Kent Award for 1969. He is the 1976 recipient of the AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award and was awarded the Army's Decoration for Meritorious Civilian Service in November 1979. Dr. Murphy received US Army Research and Development Achievement Awards in September 1979 and December 1986. He was elected Fellow, AIAA in May 1981 and was given the 1990 National Firepower Award by the ADPA Picatinny Chapter. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois and the University of Virginia. His internationally recognized short course "Free Flight Motion of Symmetric Missiles" has been given at UCLA, Norwich University, University of Tennessee Space Institute, University of Maryland and the East China Engineering Institute, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.

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