Synchronisation along quantum trajectories of three coupled VdP oscillators

Synchronisation is the remarkable phenomenon of in-phase movement of coupled oscillators during a prolonged period of time, which even occurs when these have different natural frequencies. This property is used in many fields like physics, biology and chemistry, to model various system behaviours, for instance: circadian rhythms in the chemistry...

Global Ascent Trajectory Optimization of a Space Plane

The main goal of any launch vehicle is to bring as much payload to space as possible. Space planes have been studied for decades, as they are thought to be more cost effective for frequent access to space than traditional expendable launchers. This research aims at optimizing the payload capacity of a single stage to orbit (SSTO) horizontal take...

Effects of Increasing Aerothermodynamic Fidelity on Hypersonic Trajectory Optimisation for Flight Testing Purposes

In a previous study, the optimal re-entry trajectory of Hyperion-2 has been derived. The mission of the vehicle is to measure hypersonic boundary-layer transition, a phenomena in which the laminar boundary layer turns into a turbulent boundary layer. This is an important feature in hypersonic flow to investigate, as it introduces peak heating...

Preliminary design of a rocket-based combined cycle engine for application aboard Mk-II Aurora suborbital spaceplane

The rocket-based combined cycle (RBCC) engines are a hybrid between rocket and air-breathing propulsion. They can offer performance gains when compared to traditional rocket engines. At the same time, they are relatively simple in design. Therefore, they generally do not require long development times or large funds so they could be an...

Experimental Investigation of Transverse Jet Injection into Supersonic Crossflow

Transverse jet injection into supersonic crossflows is encountered with Aerospace applications such as fuel injection in Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (SCRamjet) engines and reaction-jet-based attitude control systems. In particular, for the case of SCRamjets, the short residence times of the fuel in the combustion chamber can be countered by the...

Optimization of Space Trajectories Including Multiple Gravity Assists and Deep Space Maneuvers

The optimization of high-thrust interplanetary trajectories continues to draw attention. Especially when both Multiple Gravity Assists (MGA) as well as Deep Space Maneuvers (DSMs) are included, the optimization is typically very difficult. The search space may be characterized by a large number of minima and is furthermore very sensitive to...

Searching for two optimal trajectories: A study on different approaches to global optimization of gravity-assist trajectories that have a backup departure opportunity

In interplanetary space missions, it is convenient to have a second departure opportunity in case the first is missed. Two distinct approaches to minimizing the maximum of the two Delta-V budgets of such a trajectory pair, are developed. The first (‘a priori’) approach optimizes the variables of both trajectories at once. The second (‘a...