J. Inst. Eng. India Ser.
C
DOI 10.1007/s40032-017-0406-6
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
Design, Analysis and Qualification of Elevon for Reusable Launch
Vehicle
S. B. Tiwari1 • R. Suresh1 • C. K. Krishnadasan1
Received: 5 July 2017 / Accepted: 16 October 2017
 The Institution of Engineers (India) 2017
Abstract Reusable launch vehicle technology demonstra-
tor is configured as a winged body vehicle, designed to fly
in hypersonic, supersonic and subsonic regimes. The
vehicle will be boosted to hypersonic speeds after which
the winged body separates and descends using aerody-
namic control. The aerodynamic control is achieved using
the control surfaces mainly the rudder and the elevon.
Elevons are deflected for pitch and roll control of the
vehicle at various flight conditions. Elevons are subjected
to aerodynamic, thermal and inertial loads during the flight.
This paper gives details about the configuration, design,
qualification and flight validation of elevon for Reusable
Launch Vehicle.
Keywords RLV-TD  Elevon 
Titanium alloy (Ti–6Al–4V)  15CDV6 steel 
Thermo-structural test (TST)  Actuator
Introduction
Conventional launchers are either expendable or only
partially reusable. They require massive launch complex
and ground support. Further, mission depends on the
location of the launch site. Launch costs for these con-
ventional vehicles are very high, but the return for the
investment is low. Payload fraction is of the order of
0.5–1% only. Hence, the alternative launch vehicle (re-
usable launch vehicle) is thought which can minimize the
& S. B. Tiwari
sbtiwari770@gmail.com; sb_tiwari@vssc.gov.in
1
SDA/STR, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space
Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram, India
investment and maximize the payload (return). The reu-
sable launch vehicle technology demonstrator (RLV-TD) is
planned in order to qualify the aerodynamic configuration,
hot structure in hypersonic environment, electronic com-
ponent and FADS. RLV–TD is configured as a winged
body vehicle. RLV-TD consists of a fuselage, two double
delta wings, two vertical tails and other control surfaces
like rudder and elevons.
There are two elevons mounted behind the wing as
shown in Fig. 1. The elevon is provided for directional
stability of the vehicle during various flight conditions and
the elevon is a combination of an elevator and aileron that
are normally found in an aeroplane wings.
The primary function of an aileron is the lateral (i.e. roll)
control of an aircraft; however, it also affects the directional
control. Due to this reason, the aileron and the rudder are
usually designed concurrently. Lateral control is governed
primarily through a roll rate (P). Aileron is structurally part of
the wing, and has two pieces; each located on the trailing edge
of the outer portion of the wing left and right sections. Both
ailerons are often used symmetrically, hence their geometries
are identical. Aileron effectiveness is a measure of how good
the deflected aileron is producing the desired rolling moment.
The generated rolling moment is a function of aileron size,
aileron deflection, and its distance from the aircraft fuselage
centerline. Unlike rudder and elevator which are displacement
control, the aileron is a rate control. Any change in the aileron
geometry or deflection will change the roll rate; which sub-
sequently varies constantly the roll angle.
The elevator is a moveable part of the horizontal sta-
bilizer, hinged to the back of the fixed part of the horizontal
tail. The elevators move up and down together. When the
pilot pulls the stick backward, the elevators go up. Pushing
the stick forward causes the elevators to go down. Raised
elevators push down on the tail and cause the nose to pitch
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Fig. 1 Location of elevon on
RLV
up. This makes the wings fly at a higher angle of attack,
which generates more lift and more drag. Centering the
stick returns the elevators to neutral and stops the change of
pitch. Many aircraft use a fully moveable horizontal sta-
bilizer called stabilator or all-moving tail. Some aircraft,
such as an MD-80, use a servo tab within the elevator
surface to aerodynamically move the main surface into
position. The direction of travel of the control tab will thus
be in a direction opposite to the main control surface. It is
for this reason that an MD-80 tail looks like it has a ‘split’
elevator system. In the canard arrangement, the elevators
are hinged to the rear of a fore plane and move in the
opposite sense, for example when the pilot pulls the stick
back the elevators go down to increase the lift at the front
and lift the nose up.
The deflection of any aileron involves a hinge moment.
The hinge moments are the aerodynamic moments that
must be overcome to deflect the aileron. The hinge moment
governs the magnitude of augmented pilot force required to
move the corresponding actuator to deflect the control
surface. To minimize the size and thus the cost of the
actuation system, the ailerons should be designed so that
the control forces are as low as possible. Factors affecting
the design of the aileron are:
1. the required hinge moment,
2. aileron effectiveness,
3. aerodynamic and mass balancing,
4. aileron geometry,
5. the aircraft structure, and
6. cost.
Aileron effectiveness is a measure of how effective the
aileron deflection is in producing the desired rolling
moment. Aileron effectiveness is a function of its size and
its distance to aircraft center of gravity. Hinge moments are
also important because they are the aerodynamic moments
that must be overcome to rotate the aileron. The hinge
moments governs the magnitude of force required of the
pilot to move the aileron. Therefore, great care must be
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C
used in designing the aileron so that the control forces are
within acceptable limits for the pilots. Finally, aerody-
namic and mass balancing deals with techniques to vary the
hinge moments so that the stick force stays within an
acceptable range.
The elevon in RLV-TD serves the purpose of elevator
and aileron and it will be used to control pitch and roll
during the ascent and descent phase. Initially the split
elevon is studied for the RLV-TD. But the size of the wing
is small and it was difficult to accommodate the actuator
inside the wing, so single elevon instead of split elevon was
proposed. The RLV-TD structures can be classified into
cold structures and hot structures. The hot structures are
designed to withstand the structural and thermal loads. The
cold structure is designed to take the structural load and it
should be protected with thermal protection system.
The design of elevon consists of three phases namely
aerodynamic design, structural design and control design.
The present study covers the structural design of elevon for a
given aerodynamic profile. The construction of elevon is
different than the normal structure of conventional launch
vehicle. The elevon is similar to aircraft box type construc-
tion, so the design methodology used for box type structure is
considered for designing the elevon. The design of structure
is stiffness based to limit the deflection of panel so that it does
not change the aerodynamic shape. The elevon is subjected
to high temperature due to aerodynamic heating [1–3]. High
temperature in elevon cause compressive thermal stress
which in turn may change the shape of the panel. Thus the
thermal buckling is one of the design constraints. This con-
straint is the main driver for the number and location of the
ribs, spars and stringers and the skin thicknesses. Apart from
the panel deflection and buckling, the design of elevon has
another deign constrains such as mass, cost and manufac-
turability. The design of elevon with Titanium alloy (Ti–
6Al–4V) was carried out [4–7] for aerodynamic load initially
and then design was arrived through analysis for aero thermal
loads. The hardware was qualified for aerodynamic, thermal
and acoustic environments through extensive testing. Digital
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C
Image Correlation (DIC) technique is used to map the dis-
placement fields on the elevon which has been used to cal-
culate the slope variation of elevon from root to the tip.
Thermo-structural test of elevon is different than the struc-
tural test of the conventional launch vehicle. The high tem-
perature strain gauge is used to measure the strain during the
test. The mass of Titanium elevon is 23 kg. The present study
gives details about the design, thermo-structural analysis and
testing of Titanium elevon for RLV-TD.
Structural Configuration
The structural layout of elevon is shown in Fig. 2. The
elevon has an aerofoil cross-section. It consists of a Torsion
box frame, which is the main load carrying member. Tor-
sion box consists of Front spar, Trailing edge-1 and ribs.
The Torsion box frame is covered by two panels from both
sides using Jo-bolts. The panel is configured as integrally
stiffened panel to enhance the buckling strength of the
panels. The leading edge is situated behind the wing and
the design of leading edge is governed by thermal load.
The trailing edge acts as a rear cover. A shaft connects the
elevon with the actuator. The actuator is housed inside the
fuselage. The one end of the actuator is attached to the
lever arm of the shaft and the other end of the shaft is
attached to the bulk head through bracket. The shaft is
supported at the bearing near to the actuator. The bearing is
housed inside the bracket which is connected to the bulk
head inside the fuselage. The torque load from the shaft is
transferred to the elevon through a flanged joint between
Fig. 2 Structural configuration
of elevon (after removing top
skin)
the shaft and the root cap of the elevon. The shaft is
designed to take the ultimate torque delivered by the
actuator. Outer pin connects the elevon and wing through
brackets. When elevon is actuated, the torque is transferred
to the elevon through the inner hollow shaft and the elevon
rotates about the outer shaft.
Design Requirements
The design of the elevon is carried out to satisfy the
functional requirements of the hardware.
• Strength based constraints The structure has to with-
stand proof loads (1.1 9 limit loads) without yielding
and shall not fail under ultimate loads (1.25 9 limit
loads). The mechanical properties considered for the
design are to be on the basis of 95% confidence level.
• Stiffness based constraints
• Maximum deformation at any section of the structure
is to be limited so as to prevent re-distribution of the
loads during flight as well as handling. The control
surfaces have to survive the severe thermal environ-
ment encountered during the mission. Angular twist
due to elastic deformation of the control surface is to
be minimum acceptable by control teams
• Any panel flutter, stall flutter, etc., under the
maximum design dynamic pressure is not permitted.
Buckling type of phenomena shall not cause
components that are subject to instability to collapse
when ultimate loads are applied nor shall buckling
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 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C

deformation from limit loads degrade the function- • The natural frequency of the mounting is also to be
ing of any system or produce changes in loading checked for sufficient separation from the frequency
that are not accounted for. of the hydraulic actuator loop.
• The structure is to be designed to minimize • The elevon and their interfaces are to be designed to
detrimental effects of the loads and dynamic actuate them to ± 30.
responses, which are associated with structural
flexibility. The design has to be checked for
structural response to acoustic and thermo-acoustic
Loads
noise, vibration and shock so as to prevent any
structural failure or system or component malfunc-
The elevon is acted upon by aerodynamic pressure, ther-
tion or performance degradation below specified
mal, inertial and control actuator loads.
limits.
Pressure Load
Table 1 Critical flight load conditions
Flight condition Load cases Critical load cases are identified for P? and P- elevon.
The critical events are given in Table 1. The grid point
Ascent phase Transonic
generated on the outer envelope of aerodynamic shape of
Max. dynamic pressure
elevon is supplied to CFD team to extract the CP (pressure
Max. longitudinal acceleration
coefficient) at different critical events, The CP is converted
Descent phase Max. normal acceleration
into pressure taking into account the dynamic pressure,
Transonic
stream pressure and venting pressure. The most critical

Fig. 3 A typical pressure

distribution on elevon (Pascal)

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700 analysis. A typical temperature distribution is shown in

673
Fig. 4.
Leeward
600 Windward
Trailing Edge
Leading Edge Inertial Load
Cavity
500
Temp, K

The inertia load is estimated using inertia relief finite ele-

ment method. Under dynamic equilibrium, the acceleration
400
was estimated from the applied load on the finite element
model of the complete reusable launch vehicle and mass of
300 complete vehicle for different critical events. Due to flex-
ibility, the aerodynamic loads on the vehicle will increase.
200 This effect on the acceleration is accounted by multiplying
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
the rigid body acceleration with flexibility factor. The
Time,s different flexibility factor is used at different critical events
based on the past experienced of the load estimation of
successful flown flight. The inertial load corresponding to
the acceleration of the vehicle at different critical flight
events are used for analysis with consistent thermal and
other mechanical loads.

Control Actuator Loads

Elevons are deflected for pitch and roll control of the

Fig. 4 Temperature distribution on the elevon (Kelvin)
load for elevon with respect to mechanical loads is ascent
transonic and descent normal acceleration condition. A
typical pressure distribution is shown in Fig. 3.
Thermal Load
Due to aerodynamic heating the elevon is subjected to high
temperatures during ascent as well as descent. Temperature
distribution in the hardware is obtained from thermal
analysis. Temperature distribution for maximum tempera-
ture during ascent and descent are considered critical for
vehicle at various flight conditions using hydraulic actua-
tor. A shaft connects the elevon with the actuator. The
actuator is selected to deliver maximum torque load (ulti-
mate torque load) of 37.5 kN during flight regime. The
shaft is designed to take the ultimate torque. Actuator loads
are estimated from the finite element model for different
critical flight events and are compared during the structural
and thermo-structural test. The stall torque is considerably
higher than the torque loads expected during flight due to
the pressure load acting on the elevon.
Acoustic and Vibratory Loads
During aerodynamic phase of flight the hardware is sub-
jected to acoustic loading and associated vibratory loads.
The flight encountered acoustic environments from lift off
to splashdown. The acoustic levels during lift-off due to the
solid booster jet is predicted using spectrum source distri-
bution (SSD) technique, where the jet is divided into a

Table 2 Normalized material properties of titanium with respect to temperature

Temperature Modulus Poisson’s 0.2% proof stress Ultimate tensile strength Co-efficient of thermal expansion (/
(K) (MPa) ratio (MPa) (MPa) K)

300 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

400 0.92 1.0 0.79 0.85 1.0
500 0.87 1.0 0.69 0.77 1.03
644 0.78 1.0 0.63 0.61 1.03
700 0.74 1.0 0.59 0.61 1.03

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number of slices with acoustic power in all frequencies.
The jet noise is enveloped for various lift-off heights up to
vehicle clearing umbilical tower.
The pre-flight in-flight noise levels are estimated using
the unsteady pressure measurements over scale model of
RLV-TD and scale aeroelastic model. Data from scale
model is used to arrive at the in-flight noise levels over
RLV-TD. Unsteady pressure data from scale aeroelastic
model is used to arrive at core base shroud level.
Material Properties
The structure is made of titanium alloy (Ti–6Al–4V). The
temperature dependent material properties are considered
for the thermo-structural analysis. Normalized material
properties of Titanium is given in Table 2.
Design
The external shape of elevon is configured as a reflex
aerofoil section to meet the aerodynamics requirement. The
sizing of the aerodynamic envelope is carried out by CFD
(Computational fluid dynamics) team to generate the
Fig. 5 Finite element model of
elevon with boundary
conditions applied
Fig. 6 Fundamental buckling
mode of elevon (descent Max.
normal acceleration condition)
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C
required hinge moment to control the vehicle. The thick-
ness of the structure was built up inside. Different material
options such as 15CDV6 steel and Titanium alloy (Ti–6Al–
4V) are studied to reduce the mass of the elevon subjected
to design constrained. The design of elevon with Titanium
alloy (Ti–6Al–4V) was finalized as it reduces 50% of the
mass as compared to 15CDV6 steel. The design method-
ology of elevon is different than the conventional launch
vehicle structures.
Pressure on elevon surface was estimated using CFD for
different critical events. The pressure distribution acting on
the elevon was converted to bending moment and shear
force at different sections along the span direction of the
elevon for different critical events experienced by the
elevon during the flight.
The spar and ribs locations and sizing are carried out to
maximise the torsional and bending stiffness. It also fixes
the span of the panel. Ribs are additionally provided at load
transfer points. Additional rib is provided at the location
where the outer shaft is attached to the spar.
The section sizing of the spar, ribs and stringer of the
torsion box is carried out initially for the estimated bending
moment and shear forces induced by the aerodynamic
loads. The skin panel is designed to resist panel buckling
while limiting the panel deflection to the specified
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C

Fig. 7 a Test load simulation a

for structural qualification test
of elevon. b Test setup for the
structural test of the elevon

Normal Limit Load ( 10 loading Points )

Load App. Normal Force Load App. Normal
Point Point Force
L1 0.3 L2 0.5
L3 0.72 L4 0.6
L5a 0.6 L5b 0.3
L6a 0.6 L6b 1.0
L7 0.25
Load App. Axial Force Load App. Side Force
Point Point
L8 0.14 L9 1.01

Fig. 8 LVDT on Elevon

(schematic diagram)

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Table 3 Comparison of analysis deflection and slope with structural test results for qualification load
Displacement Slope ()
Leading edge side (mm) Trailing edge side(mm) Test
LVDT (test) DIC (test) Analysis LVDT (test) DIC (test) Analysis LVDT DIC Analysis

Root DT4: 1.18 0.829 0.919 DT3: 15.08 15.550 15.104 1.65 1.74 1.68
Rib-1 3.049 2.748 12.655 11.719 1.88 1.76
Rib-2 2.855 2.746 12.103 11.427 1.91 1.79
Rib3 3.468 2.643 11.486 10.932 1.70 1.76
Rib-4 2.531 2.401 10.762 10.203 2.06 1.95
Rib-5 2.236 1.992 9.742 9.203 1.98 1.91
Rib-6 1.669 1.306 8.345 8.395 1.83 1.94
Tip DT2: 0.09 0.112 0.332 DT1: 10.32 10.692 9.928 1.83 1.90 1.72

maximum allowable value. The adequacy of thickness is constrained. The displacement along the actuator arm
also checked based on the temperature obtained from direction is also constrained. The reactions obtained from
thermal analysis by thermal team. The fasteners are the analysis at this location will be the actuator load
designed to take the shear and axial load induced due to required to resist the torque developed due to the applied
combined aero thermal loads. The shaft and the shaft load combination.
interface are designed to withstand the torque imparted
while actuating the elevon. The actuator load is converted
to torque with the help of a lever arm being integral piece
with shaft.
Elevon : Comparisson of Flight Temperature and
The design is validated through finite element structural analytical Temperature at 40s 70s, 300s & 500s
and thermo-structural analysis. Thermo-structural analysis Flight (measured)-2TELP-37-Bottom panel
Allowable Temp.
is carried for all pressure load cases and corresponding
PFA_TEMP
thermal and inertia loads and margin is estimated for each
component. The mass optimization of the structure is car-
ried out without changing the effective thermal mass nec-
Temperature (K)

essary to take aerodynamic heating.

Analysis

Thermo-structural Analysis

The elevon structure is idealized in ANSYS using 8 node

shell elements. The shaft is modeled with beam elements.
Displacement constraints are applied at attachment loca-
tions. Figure 5 shows the FE model and boundary condi-
0 200 400 600 800
tions. At the wing to elevon attachment location,
Time (s)
displacement along the shaft axis direction is free so as to
allow thermal expansion. At the inner bearing (housed Fig. 9 Comparison of flight measured temperature with analysis
inside the fuselage) location, all degrees of freedom are (2TELL-37), Elevon (P-)

Table 4 Comparison of strain of elevon under acoustic load

Applied g values Measured strain (Grms) at SG Analysis strain at S.G Max. strain in the hardware from analysis
location location

9.8 g Normal to the 2.5/2.6 le 1.87/2.4 le 180 le (at the leading edge—spar connection nearer to
panel the root rib)

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C

Analysis is carried out for combined thermal and Strain Comparisson

mechanical loads. The analysis results showed that under Flight measured (SEP-1)
Post-flight analysis
the combined loads, maximum displacement of the elevon
at the trailing edge root tip is 10.5 mm for descent normal
acceleration for elevon P-. The maximum stress in the
leading edge is - 376 MPa (536 K) against the allowable
strength of 554 MPa and the minimum margin of safety is

Strain (με)
0.47. Sufficient margin exists in the hardware against the
strength at all locations.

Buckling Analysis

Buckling analysis of the elevon under combined thermo-

mechanical loads indicates a buckling load factor of 1.55
without knock down factor, which is the lowest and occurs
for load condition (Descent Nmax. Condition). The mode
shape is shown in Fig. 6 (P- elevon). Buckling is seen in
bottom panel as expected. 0 200 400 600 800
Time (s)
Vibration Analysis
Fig. 10 Comparison of flight measured strain with analysis (SEP-1),
Free vibration analysis was carried out for the elevon with elevon (P-)
boundary conditions as discussed in ‘‘Thermo-structural
analysis’’ section. The fundamental mode frequency
obtained is 40 Hz, which meets the frequency specification Strain comparison
Flight measured (SEP-2)
of 35 Hz. Post flight analysis

Qualification

Structural Qualification Test of Elevon

Strain, με

Elevon was qualified by a structural test simulating the

pressure and inertia loads corresponding to descent normal
acceleration condition and ascent transonic condition.
Aerodynamic and inertia loads were lumped as concen-
trated loads at discrete locations on the elevon surface in
such a way that the reactions at the support locations during
flight are simulated The simulated test load is shown in the
Fig. 7a and test set up is shown in Fig. 7b. The Linear
Variable Displacement Transducer (LVDT) locations are
0 200 400 600 800
shown in Fig. 8. The digital image correlation technique on
Time (s)
top panel is used to capture displacement contour. The
LVDT and digital image correlation (DIC) data are used to Fig. 11 Comparison of flight measured strain with analysis (SEP-2),
capture the displacement patterns and angular twist of the elevon (P-)
elevon under qualification load. The strain gauges were
used to capture the stress to estimate the margin of com-
ponents under qualification load. analysis strain of – 234 le. Test shows the actuator load
The analysis deformations are compared to test results less than the predicted load due to friction. The test load
and are shown in the Table 3. Tested displacement and was augmented to match the actuator load during the test
strain shows the linear variation with load. Tested values of with the flight actuator load in order to qualify the shaft -
deflection and strains matched fairly well with predictions. elevon interface joint. The Hardware withstood the quali-
Maximum strain of – 228 le in the test compare well with fication load.

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Fig. 12 Variation of actuator load and hinge moment with respect to time (P-)

Fig. 13 Variation of actuator load and hinge moment with respect to time (P?)

Thermo-structural Qualification Test of Elevon
Thermo-structural qualification test is carried out corre-
sponding to maximum temperature in descent conditions
along with combined mechanical loads. The maximum out
of plane displacement observed during the test was
12.2 mm at the trailing edge of root of elevon against the
analytical value of 11.2 mm. Deflection obtained from the
tests showed good correlation with analysis values.
Mechanical strains are comparable to prediction. Thermo-
structural test (TST) based strains does not indicate insta-
bility. The analysis shows a maximum strain of – 800 le

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C

against the maximum test strain (- 732 le). Strain levels

measured are well within acceptable material limit at
respective temperatures. Dye penetration test (DP) shows
no observations after test. Torque retention in the bolt at
elevon shaft interface location was observed after test. The
Hardware was qualified for RLV-TD hypersonic experi-
ment (HEX) mission.

Acoustic Tests

Acoustic test of elevon was carried out in the assembled

condition with full RLV by subjecting to an overall
acoustic pressure level of 153 dB. The updated environ-
ment testing listing (ETL) spec was 167.2 dB. Thus the test
data was extrapolated from 153 to 167.2 dB. Extrapolated
response on elevon is maximum at the tip in the radial
direction. Grms value is 287.6 grms. Quasi static analysis
was carried out by applying inertia load normal to the
surface. The results of the analysis is summarized in the
Table 4. The maximum strain in the hardware from anal-
ysis is 180 le which is well below the allowable limit of Fig. 14 Variation of actuator load with respect to time (120–121 s)
the endurance strain of the material. The post test inspec-
tions and tests have confirmed that the assembly withstood The dynamic magnification factor for elevon due to
the levels satisfactorily. excitation is given as,
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2 2 ffi
u
u 1 þ 4n R x
kdyn ¼ t   2 2 ; R ¼
Flight Analysis 2 2 xn
1  R þ 4n R

The flight temperature is compared with analytical tem-
perature at 40, 70, 300 and 500 s. The elevon has experi-
enced less temperature as compared to thermo-structural
test condition which is less than the allowable temperature
674 K of titanium material (Fig. 9). The flight measured
strain is compared with analytical strain at time instance
40, 70, 300 and 500 s (Figs. 10, 11). Strain at 40 and 70 s
are mainly dominated by pressure load. The analytical
strain is tensile in nature at 40 s and compressive in nature
at 70 s. The trends of analytical strain are matching with
measured strain. The strain at 300 and 500 s are dominated
by thermal load. The discrepancy in the flight strain and
analytical strain at 300 and 500 s can be correlated after
proper calibration of strain gauge.
The flight measured actuator load and hinge moment is
shown in Figs. 12 and 13 for elevon P- and P? respec-
tively. It can be seen from figure that the actuator load has a
oscillation from 110 to 180 s. The actuator load from 120
to 121 s is shown in Fig. 14 for P- elevon. It can be seen
that the actuator load has 7 Hz oscillation and it is exciting
the elevon.
The amplification for the elevon-shaft interface
corresponding to 7 Hz excitation = 1.03.
The hardware has experienced a hinge moment of
772 N-m in flight (without considering the losses due to
friction and other losses) as against the limit torque of
1520 N m. In the reusable launch vehicle mission, the
designed hardware was flown successfully. The post flight
data showed that the hardware was actuated as intended
during the flight and the hardware withstood all the flight
loads.
Conclusion
A twin elevon configuration for reusable launch vehicle
was designed, developed and qualified through extensive
testing. The design of the elevon was validated through
structural and thermo-structural analysis. The mass opti-
mization of the structure is carried out without changing
the effective thermal mass necessary to take aerodynamic
heating. Titanium version of elevon shows 50% mass

123

reduction as compared to 15CDV6 steel. The hardware was
qualified during structural and thermo-structural test. Tes-
ted displacement shows the linear variation with load.
Analytical displacement matches well with test displace-
ment. Maximum strain of – 228 le in the structural test
compare well with analysis strain of – 234 le. The analysis
shows a maximum strain of - 800 le against the maxi-
mum test strain (- 732 le) in thermo-structural test. The
design was successfully flight tested in the RLV mission.
The post flight analysis was carried out. The elevon has
experienced less temperature as compared to thermo-
structural test condition which is less than the allowable
temperature 674 K of titanium material The flight mea-
sured strain is compared with analytical strain. The hard-
ware has experienced a hinge moment of 772 N m in flight
as against the limit torque of 1520 N m. The post flight
data showed that the hardware was actuated as intended
during the flight and the hardware withstood all the flight
loads.
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C
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(Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2010), pp. 1–648