J. Peraire
16.07 Dynamics
Fall 2004
Version 1.0
Lecture D3 - Equations of Motion in Cartesian Coordinates
(2DOF Aircraft Model)
Newton’s second law
F = ma
is a vector equation that relates the magnitude and direction of the force vector, to the magnitude and
direction of the acceleration vector. In the previous lecture we derived expressions for the acceleration vector
expressed in cartesian coordinates. This expressions can now be used in Newton’s second law, to produce
the equations of motion expressed in cartesian coordinates.
Equations of Motion in Cartesian Coordinates
In rectangular cartesian coordinates, xyz, we write F = Fxi + Fyj + Fzk and a = axi + ayj + azk. Thus,
we have, in component form
Fx = max = m¨x
Fy = may = m¨y
Fz = maz = m¨z .
(1)
This system of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE’s) must be augmented with appropriate initial condi-
tions. Typically we will know the initial position r0 and velocity v0. Thus, r(0) = x(0)i+y(0)j+z(0)k = r0,
and v(0) = ˙x(0)i + ˙y(0)j + ˙z(0)k = v0.
In general, forces on a body depend in general on its position r, its velocity v and, sometimes, explicitly on
the time t (e.g. the control inputs on an aircraft). In addition, they may also depend on the position and
velocity of other neighboring bodies or particles. In this situation, we may need to solve for the motion of
all the bodies involved simultaneously. Fortunately, one can often make the approximation that the effect of
the surrounding bodies is small and hence simplify the problem considerably.
Analytical Integration – Some General Cases
There are only a few instances where the equations of motion can be solved analytically. In the general cases
numerical integration is required. Among the special situations where analytical solution is possible, there
are the problems where F is either constant or depends on t only. In such cases we can integrate the above
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equations independently to compute the components of the velocity vector,
vx(t) = vx(0) + 1m
integraldisplay t
0
Fx(t) dt , vy(t) = vy(0)+ 1m
integraldisplay t
0
Fy(t) dt , vz(t) = vz(0)+ 1m
integraldisplay t
0
Fz(t) dt ,
and the position,
x(t) = x(0) + 1m
integraldisplay t
0
vx(t) dt , y(t) = y(0)+ 1m
integraldisplay t
0
vy(t) dt , z(t) = z(0)+ 1m
integraldisplay t
0
vz(t) dt .
There are also one-dimensional cases in which the equations of motion can be integrated analytically (see
review on rectilinear motion). In some other situations, it is possible to partially solve these equations
analytically. For instance, if the forces can be derived from a potential, we might be able to write expressions,
e.g. conservation of total energy, that are satisfied by the motion even though we may not know exactly
know what the motion is.
Numerical Integration
The most general way of solving the equations of motion is by numerical integration. In this case we do not
compute the solution of the problem but an approximation to it. It is typically useful to work only with first
order equations, so we write,
˙x = vx
˙y = vy
˙z = vz
˙vx = 1mFx(x,y,z,vx,vy,vz,t)
˙vy = 1mFy(x,y,z,vx,vy,vz,t)
˙vz = 1mFz(x,y,z,vx,vy,vz,t)
This is a set of 6 first order ODE’s, with initial conditions
x(0) = x0, y(0) = y0, z(0) = z0, vx(0) = vx0, vy(0) = vy0, vz(0) = vz0 .
The above set of equations is sometimes written in shorthand notation as
˙X = F(X,t), with X(0) = X0 (2)
where X = (x,y,z,vx,vy,vz)T, F = (vx,vy,vz,Fx/m,Fy/m,Fz/m)T, and X0 = (x0,y0,z0,vx0,vy0,vz0)T.
The array X is usually referred to as the “vector” of state variables, even though it is not truly a vector. It
should not be confused with at physical vector such as the velocity or acceleration. Note that the components
of X do not even have the same units.
Fortunately, the theory for numerically solving systems of ordinary differential equations, is very mature and
good algorithms are available. Here we use a simple “Forward Euler Method” for illustration. Consider a
time increment ?t (this ?t should be “small enough” so that the computed results are accurate, but on the
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other hand, we will see that the smaller the timestep the more time steps we will have to compute). The
idea is to start from the initial condition, and compute the solution at times ?t, 2?t, 3?t, etc. Suppose
that we have already progressed along the trajectory to time t, when the components of X(t) are all known
(this could clearly be t = 0 because of the initial condition). We then update all these quantities to the next
discrete time t + ?t, by
X(t + ?t) = X(t) + ?tF(X(t),t)
Note Solving ODE’s with MATLABcircleR
The task of integrating a systems of ODE’s is particluarly simple if we use a computer package such as
MATLAB. There exist a number of solution algorithms that one can choose from, but for our purposes
almost any of them will work. The MATLAB syntax is typically of the form
[t,X] = solver(odefun,tspan,x0) .
The returned arrays t and X contain the vector of time points and the solution, X at these time points,
respectively. A function, odefun, that calculates F, from X, and t, must be provided, as well as a vector
specifying the interval of integration tspan = [t0,tf], and the initial value of X, x0. In order to set the
parameters for the solution algorithm one can use the MATLAB function odeset.
See http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/ref/ode45.html for details as well as
the lab 1 handout.
2 Degrees-of-Freedom (2DOF) Aircraft Model
In this section we will develop a simple model to simulate the flight of an aircraft (or spacecraft). The
aircraft is treated as a particle. Therefore, we assume that all its mass is concentrated at a point located
at the aircraft’s center of mass. In addition, we will assume that we have perfect attitude control. That
is, we will decouple the motion of the center of mass with the rotation of the aircraft about the center of
mass. For the later, we will assume that we have a control system that allows us to prescribe the angle of
attach of the aircraft. In reality this is clearly not possible and any moment applied to the aircraft, through
the control surfaces, to change its attitude will take a certain time to be effective. A more detailed model
in which the aircraft is treated as a rigid body, with rotational inertia, will be considered later on in the
course. Although approximate, the current model is found to be useful for many applications. In addition,
we will assume that the aircraft flies in a vertical plane. The extension to three dimensions, although not
hard will make things too complicated at this point. Therefore, the two degrees of freedom of the aircraft
are the horizontal and vertical positions, x and y. In order to be able to write the equations of motion we
need to look at the forces that act on the aircraft.
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With reference to the figure below, we define the following angles. Let β, be the angle that the velocity
vector (tangent to the flight path) makes with the x-axis. Thus, we will have tanβ = vy/vx. Let α be the
angle of attack of the aircraft relative to velocity vector. As we will see, the angle of attack is relevant, as it
determines the lift (and drag) for a given velocity and altitude. The angle of attack, is defined so that the
lift generated when α = 0, is equal to zero. In addition, we define the angle αT as the angle that the thrust
vector T makes with the zero-lift line. In most cases, this angle will be constant, but in some situations (e.g.
thrust vectoring in aircraft or rockets) it can be an input, or control, variable. All the angles are positive as
shown in the diagram.
CM x-axisflight path
zero-lift line
thrust line
T
β
y
x
v
The aerodynamic forces, are resolved into a lift component L, orthogonal to the velocity, and a drag compo-
nent D, parallel to the velocity. In addition, we will have, the weight of the vehicle, W, and the thrust T,
due to the propulsive system. When these forces are referred to the center of mass of the aircraft, we may
have an additional pitching moment M. For this aircraft model, we will assume that the control surface
guarantees that the pitching moment about the center of mass is always zero.
Forces on the Aircraft
For a standard wing-tail configuration aircraft we have the following:
Lift
Most of the aircraft’s lift is generated by the wing and horizontal stabilizer. For a given angle of attack α,
the lift is proportional to the relative wind’s dynamic pressure, q = (1/2)ρv2, and to the wing’s area S,
L = 12ρv2SCL. (3)
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Here, CL, is the non-dimensional lift coefficient, which is a function of the shape, and the angle of attack
α. The variation of CL with the angle of attack is linear, up to a maximum value CLmax, of the order of
1.5?2.0. Thus, we have
CL = aα , (4)
where a = ?CL/?α. For an idealized flat plate wing, a = 2pi rad?1, and more generally for finite wings
a = 5 rad?1 to a = 6 rad?1. Note that for α = 0, CL = 0, which implies that we are assuming that α = 0
corresponds to the zero-lift line.
Pitching Moment
The lift force, L, is the result of integrating a distributed force over the surface of the wing. This distributed
force is equivalent to L, acting through a particular point called the center of pressure (CP). For this model,
we will assume that through proper control of the flaps and tail, the pitching moment about the center of
mass is zero. Moreover, we shall assume that any attitude changes commanded by the control system are
instantaneous.
Drag
The drag force can also be expressed as a function of a non-dimensional drag coefficient, CD, as
D = 12ρv2 SCD. (5)
The drag coefficient in general has a complicated dependence on α and CL. But commonly it is assumed to
have two components, one which is independent of the lift, and one which increases quadratically with the
lift,
CD = CD0 +KC2L . (6)
Typical values for CD0 for the whole aircraft, are of the order of 0.003 to 0.02. An important ratio used to
determine the aircraft’s performance is L/D = CL/CD, which is typically of the order of 10?20 for most
subsonic aircraft, and up to 60 for some sailplanes.
Thrust
The thrust generated by the engine is a force directed at an angle αT measured with respect to the zero-lift
line. In general, both the magnitude of T, and its direction αT, are inputs to the model.
Weight
Typically we will simple have W = mg and it will be directed along the negative y-axis. Note, however, that
we are interested in spacecraft in orbit, the weight might be directed to a fixed point, e.g. the earth center,
and may be a function of the height.
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Equation of Motion
Written in cartesian coordinates, the equations of motion are
max = T cos(β +α +αT)?Dcosβ ?Lsinβ
may = Lcosβ +T sin(β +α +αT)?Dsinβ ?W
(7)
State Space Form
The equations of motion can be written in the form of equation (2) by introducing the velocities as variables
and taking
X =
?
??
??
??
?
x
y
vx
vy
?
??
??
??
?
, F =
?
??
??
??
?
vx
vy
(T/m)cos(β +α +αT)?(D/m)cosβ?(L/m)sinβ
(L/m)cosβ + (T/m)sin(β +α +αT)?(D/m)sinβ ?(W/m)
?
??
??
??
?
(8)
where, T, α and αT are inputs to the model which will typically be a function of time and perhaps X through
the control system. Recall that β = tan?1(vy/vx), and L is by expressions (3), (4) and D, by expressions
(5), (6), and (4).
ADDITIONAL READING
J.L. Meriam and L.G. Kraige, Engineering Mechanics, DYNAMICS, 5th Edition
3/3, 3/4, 3/5 (rectangular coordinates only)
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