Submission Deadline: 01 October 2019 (closed) View: 148
Almost all real engineering systems are essentially nonlinear. Linear systems are just idealized models that approximate the nonlinear systems in a prescribed situation subject to a certain accuracy. Once nonlinearity is included, analytical solutions are rarely available for almost all real problems. Therefore, nonlinear computational methods are becoming important. In most aerospace problems, however, a relatively high-fidelity nonlinear model has to be established, especially when the system is immersing in a complicated environment and nonlinearity is not negligible anymore. Many complex phenomena, i.e., bifurcation, limit cycle oscillation, chaos, turbulence, may occur in a variety of aerospace systems, which may be described by nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) for rigid body problems or Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) for flexible solids or fluid mechanics problems. In general, nonlinearity in aerospace systems is often regarded as unwanted and troublemaker, due to the fact that considering nonlinearity makes the solution methods as well as the control methods more difficult. Therefore, there has been a general tendency to circumvent, design around them, control them, or simply ignore them. However, in recent years, advanced computational and control methods have been developing so fast that complex nonlinear systems become more and more solvable. So, exploiting the benefits arising from systems' nonlinearities turns out to be a novel and crucial subject. This special issue is dedicated to the study of the dynamics and control of aircraft and spacecraft. It aims at stimulating an intense interaction between the two areas, and bringing new computational methods, control methods, modeling methods, and experiment methods from one area to the other. In summary, nonlinear features are inherent in modern aerospace engineering problems, and therefore very important to analyze.
Potential topics include, but may not be limited to:
(1) Novel nonlinear computational methods for dynamical systems
(2) Data-based modeling of nonlinear dynamics and control
(3) Nonlinear control methods in spacecraft dynamics
(4) Efficient computational methods in orbital dynamics
(5) Nonlinear structural dynamics in airfoil and whole-body aircraft
(6) Ground experiments for aircraft and spacecraft dynamics