AS5040: Flight Mechanics

Lecture 2
In this lecture, we will derive the governing equations of motion for a six de- 20th January, 2025
gree of freedom rigid body, where the linear momentum and angular momentum
vectors are expressed in an inertial frame.

As mentioned in the previous lecture, our first task is to derive the governing
equations of motion for an aircraft. To that end, we will make an assumption
that the aircraft is a rigid body1 . In this lecture, we will derive the equations 1
In reality, the aircraft is not a rigid body
governing the motion of a rigid body. and is flexible. The interaction between the
inertial forces, aerodynamic forces, and the
elastic forces lead to aeroelastic effects,
Rigid Body Dynamics which we will neglect in this course. If you
are interested to know more about what can
result from aeroelastic effects, read about the
How do we describe the motion of a rigid body? We need two reference
Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse.
frames: an inertial reference frame and a body-fixed reference frame to de-
scribe the motion of a rigid body. The inertial reference frame is non acceler-
ating and non-rotating and is fixed on the surface of the earth. The body-fixed
reference frame is attached to the rigid body and has its origin at the CG of the
rigid body.
As a consequence of Euler’s rotation theorem2 , a general motion of a rigid 2
The most general motion of a rigid body
body can be described by the translation of the center of mass 3 of the rigid with one point fixed is a rotation about an
axis through that point.
body and a rotation about an axis passing through the center of mass. The 3
For our purposes, we will assume that the
velocity (⃗v) of the CG of the rigid body and the angular velocity (ω ⃗ ) of the center of mass coincides with the CG of the
rigid body.
rigid body define the motion of the rigid body4 . We will use Newton’s second 4
⃗ is the angular velocity of the body frame
ω
law of motion to relate how ⃗v and ω ⃗ change under the influence of the forces with respect to the inertial frame.
and moments acting on the rigid body.
From Newton’s second law of motion, the translational motion of the rigid
body’s CG is described through the following differential equation:
d⃗p
= ⃗f net (1)
dt
where ⃗p and ⃗f net are the linear momentum vector and the external force vector,
respectively.
Likewise, the equation governing the rotation motion of the rigid body
about its CG is given by
d⃗h
⃗ net
=m (2)
dt
where ⃗h and m⃗ net are the angular momentum vector and the external moment
vector5 , respectively. 5
Represents the sum of all external mo-
ments about the CG of the rigid body.

Linear Momentum
Consider an elemental volume of mass dm of a rigid body B , and let the posi-
tion of the elemental mass with respect to the CG be given by ⃗r. Given ⃗v and
⃗ ×⃗r.
⃗ , the translational velocity of dm is ⃗v + ω
ω

⃗ ×⃗r ).
d⃗p = dm(⃗v + ω (3)
 AS5040: Flight Mechanics 2

To get the linear momentum of the entire rigid body, we integrate d⃗p over B
resulting in
Z
⃗p = ⃗ ×⃗r )
dm(⃗v + ω (4)
B
Z Z
= ⃗v ⃗ ×
dm + ω dm⃗r (5)
B B
= m⃗v (6)

where m is the mass of the rigid body.

R
B dm⃗r = 0 by definition of the CG of the
rigid body.

Angular Momentum
The angular momentum of a rigid body is the moment of linear momentum,
and for the differential mass dm, the angular momentum vector is given by

d⃗h = ⃗r × dm(⃗v + ω
⃗ ×⃗r ) (7)
= dm⃗r × ⃗v + dm⃗r × (⃗
ω ×⃗r ). (8)

Integrating the previous expression over B , the angular momentum of the rigid
body is given by
Z
⃗h = dm⃗r × ⃗v + dm⃗r × (⃗
ω ×⃗r ) (9)
ZB
= ⃗r × (⃗
ω ×⃗r ) dm. (10)
B

For evaluating the above expression, we express ⃗r and ω ⃗ in terms of their

components that are parallel to the bases of the inertial frame. Let ⃗r = xî +
⃗ = ωx î + ωy ĵ + ωz k̂. Substituting the preceding expressions in
y ĵ + zk̂ and ω
the expression ⃗r × (⃗ω ×⃗r ) and making use of the BAC-CAB6 expansion rule 6
⃗a × (⃗b ×⃗c) = ⃗b(⃗a.⃗c) −⃗c(⃗a.⃗b)
for a vector triple product, we get

ω ×⃗r ) = ((y2 + z2 )ωx − xyωy − xzωz )î

⃗r × (⃗
+ (− xyωx + ( x2 + z2 )ωy − yzωz ) ĵ
+ (− xzωx + −yzωy + ( x2 + y2 )ωz )k̂.

Now we define what are called the moments of inertia and products of iner-
tia as follows: Ixx , Iyy , and Izz are the moments of inertia,
Z Z Z and Ixy , Iyz , and Izx are the products of
Ixx = (y2 + z2 )dm, Iyy = ( x2 + z2 )dm, Izz = ( x2 + y2 )dm inertia.
B B B
Z Z Z
Ixy = xy dm, Iyz = yz dm, Izx = xz dm.
B B B

With the preceding definitions, (10) becomes

⃗h = (ωx Ixx − ωy Ixy − ωz Izx )î

+ (−ωx Ixy + ωy Iyy − ωz Iyz ) ĵ
+ (−ωx Izx − ωy Iyz + ωz Izz )k̂. (11)
 AS5040: Flight Mechanics 3

Let the matrix I be defined as In the sequel, we will use lower-case letters
  with bold-faced fonts to denote vectors and
Ixx − Ixy − Izx upper-case letters with bold-faced fonts to
denote matrices.
I = − Ixy Iyy − Iyz  (12)
 
− Izx − Iyz Izz

where I is referred to as the inertia matrix7 . Representing the components of 7

What are some of the properties of the
⃗ and ⃗h as column vectors, we can write (11) in matrix form as
ω inertia matrix?

h = Iω (13)

where h = [h x hy hz ] T and ω = [ωx ωy ωz ] T .

Governing Equations of Motion

dp d(mv)
= = f net (14)
dt dt

dh d( Iω)
= = mnet (15)
dt dt

where v = [v x vy vz ] T is the column vector consisting of the components of ⃗v.

f net = [ f x f y f z ] T and mnet = [m x my mz ] T are the external force vector and
external moment vector, respectively. Equations (14) and (15) represent six
scalar, first-order, differential equations whose integrals specify the linear and
angular velocity of the rigid body.