Time-varying structural reliability of a multistage solid-propellant launch vehicle subjected to deterministic and stochastic loads is investigated. The study is of practical importance because the launch vehicle’s structure is influenced by a combination of external aerodynamics as well as inertial and internal ballistic loads emanating from the solid rocket motors. In addition, as launch-vehicle flight conditions change during flight, the vehicle will be subjected to time-varying loads. In this sense, the environmental, aerodynamic, and internal pressure fluctuations can be interpreted as stochastic forces affecting the launch-vehicle structural reliability. To account for temporal variations of the total loads experienced by the launch vehicle, its time-dependent structural reliability is formulated via a stress limit state function. The first-order reliability method is used to estimate the launch-vehicle cumulative failure probability as a function of flight time. The results are verified using the method of direct Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, a sensitivity of launch-vehicle structural reliability is performed against some statistical variations related to solid rocket motor and launch-vehicle design parameters that dominantly affect time-varying structural reliability.
Time-Varying Structural Reliability of Launch Vehicle via Extreme Response Approach
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets ; 54 , 1 ; 306-314
2017-01-01
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Time-Varying Structural Reliability of Launch Vehicle via Extreme Response Approach
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