MECHANICAL SYSTEMS, CLASSICAL MODELS
Hence, in the equations of motion of the rocket (the mechanical system
S ) one introduces
the influence of the air pressure and of the reactive force, considered as applied at the mass
centre
C of the emitted masses (Fig. 13.9); in the corresponding equation of the moment
of momentum appears also the moment of the force
M
′
v , with respect to the pole O
′
of
an inertial frame of reference (with respect to which one calculates the acceleration
O
′
a
too and in which the differentiation with respect to time is performed).
Fig. 13.9 Rocket problem
In this problem, the acceleration
()
OO
t
′′
=
aa and the angular velocity ()t=ωω
must be determined, supposing that the law of variation of mass
()MMt= , deduced
from the law of combustion of fuel, is known. Due to the emission of mass, the position
vectors
ρ and
C
, as well as the moment of inertia tensor
O
I
, are functions of time;
their variation depends on the mass and on the position of the eliminated elements.
Hence, one must assume that the laws of variation of those quantities are given too. In a
first approximation, we can consider that
ρ,
C
and
O
I are constant quantities, at least
for a short time interval. We mention that the torsor
,
p
p
O
RM of the hydrodynamic
forces corresponds to the pressure of the air, exerted on the external walls of the rocket
(a mechanical system
S of variable mass immersed in a fluid), as well as to the
pressure of the gases resulting from explosions (on the internal surface of the rocket);
thus, there intervene also problems of dynamics of gases, of thermodynamics and even
of interactions between the rocket and gases. All these aspects complicate much the
problem of the rocket from the mathematical point of view; we assume thus that the
action of the pressure is known in time. In this order of ideas, we consider that the
rocket can be modelled mathematically as a particle of variable mass.
Let be thus a rocket launched at the Earth surface, at the initial moment, the motion
taking place along the local vertical (the
Ox-axis is along the ascendent vertical; see
Fig. 10.22 too). In the active phase (the rocket moves due to the action of the fuel), the
equation (13.2.21) allows to write (the relative velocity
w is directed opposite to the
velocity
v, hence its component along the Ox-axis is −w; the reactive force R has the
same direction as the velocity
v, because 0M <
)
0
()Mv Mw M g vϕ=− −
,
(13.2.22)
where
0
()Mg vϕ is the resistance of the air (corresponding to the pressure) and where
we consider a linear law of variation of mass (
0
(1 )MM tα=−,
constα =
).
180