SBIR-STTR Award

Thrust-Vector Control (IATVC) system for a 6 inch diameter tail control missile. The end result of this effort will be a state-of-the-art control actuation system with the associated mechanisms needed for combined TVC and fin axis control. Such a system will greatly enhance the performance and agility of small diameter Air to Air missiles (5-6 inches). An IATVC system does not presently exist in the U.S. inventory. This effort will be accomplished in part by scaling our previously developed 8 inch IATVC system to 6 inches. Several innovative features will be incorporated in the design. * A yoke linkage design which provides a high gear ratio in a small volume. * A unique brushless motor which has an extremely high torque to inertia ratio. *Use of standard materials and processes which keep production costs down. A two phase approach will be used to accomplish the goals of this program. The Phase I objectives are twofold: * Investigation of the different approaches and identification of the most promising solution. * Mechanical layout of an actuation system using the baselined approach. Completion of Phase I will provide a sound basis for Phase II of the program. The Phase II objectives are as follows: * Refinement of the design for overall system optimization. * Fabrication of an actual full scale IATVC system.

Ever increasing threat evasive maneuverability, which is employed to countermeasure anti-air missiles, demands higher performance control actuators with TVC capability. The technologies developed through this SBIR can increase the intercept envelope for air-to-air tactical missiles while significantly reducing control section size. The integrated aerofin and TVC allows extreme angles of attack during launch intercept maneuvers with greatly reduced aerofin surface profiles for compact internal carriage. In Phase I we presented a breakthrough solution to the control problem of a 5.5 to 6 inch missile. We propose to continue this development of the Integrated Aerofin Thrust Vector Control (IATVC) 5.5 inch diameter actuation system and deliver a tested stat-of-the-art engineering unit. The resulting actuator, compared to other missile actuation systems of this size, demonstrates: A breakthrough differential yoke plate design for both aero and TVC with 4 motors total. A toatl system comparable in cost ti aerofin only systems. A very compacyt package (1/2 the length of typical aerofin only systems). A delivered power of 1.0 HP per axis (2-3 times existing systems). The proposed IATVC does not reduce missile range by incurring additional drag in the rocket exhaust as do tab or vane TVC approaches. These benefits rovide for a more flexible missile system which can meet a wide range of mission requirements. This need is especially criical for defending against anti-ship and other next-generation missiles anticikpated as wel as future manned and unmanned aircraft. This system greatly enhances the performance, agility and package density of small diameter missiles. Such a system does not presently exist in the U.S. inventory of elsewhere.

Keywords:
ACTUATOR MISSILE ELECTRO-MECHANICAL CONTROL SYSTEM PULSE WIDTH MODULATED (PWM)