Multibody Analysis of Terminal Phase for a Reentry Vehicle: A Comparative Study

The multibody analysis of the system formed by an entry vehicle and a parachute is the subject of the present paper. In particular, two different models of the system made of bridles (connecting the vehicle to the suspension point) and riser (connecting the suspension point to the suspension lines of the parachute) are considered. This allows one to highlight if and how the simplifying assumptions at the basis of many techniques adopted for sizing the suspension system are reasonable and if they affect the most important factors that characterize the final phase of an entry trajectory, such as peak load and maximum deceleration at parachute inflation and landing site dispersion footprint. A Monte Carlo analysis is performed to account for uncertainties on initial conditions and system parameters.