Characteristic parameters of dual control system with lateral thrust and aerodynamic lift

In order to investigate the fundamental difference between pure aerodynamic lift control and dual control i.e. lateral thrust and aerodynamic lift control, for endoatmospheric interceptors, according to theoretical analysis of tracking performance limitations in continuous systems, nonminimum phase zeros of the dual control plant are considered as characteristic parameters to describe the performance of the dual control system. By means of a suitable design of aerodynamic lift control law, there exists only one nonminimum phase zero far away from the imaginary axis in the plant for the design of lateral thrust control law. Therefore, the tracking performance of the dual control system would surpass that of a pure aerodynamic lift control system in which there exists a nonminimum phase zero near the imaginary axis. Numerical simulations show the importance of nonminimum phase zeros in the design process.