Date of Award

Spring 4-2021

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Committee Chair

Jean-Michel Dhainaut

First Committee Member

Eduardo Divo

Second Committee Member

Bryan Litz

Abstract

For spinning projectiles, the 6 Degree-of-Freedom model can closely capture their trajectories with high accuracy and details. However, it comes with the drawbacks of long computation time and needing many aerodynamic coefficients which can be hard to obtain. The Modified Point Mass Trajectory Model was introduced as a simplified solution. This work compares them with each other, and with some more conventional methods. A program is developed to simulate and visualize trajectories. With some augmentations, the Modified Point Mass model is able to generate comparable results in most cases, but not including special cases such as when the projectile is unstable. It also allows for simulation time step as much as 60 times while retaining accuracy.

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