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Application of the finite element method to an optimal control problem
Author(s) -
Nakamichi J.,
Washizu K.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.421
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1097-0207
pISSN - 0029-5981
DOI - 10.1002/nme.1620121007
Subject(s) - finite element method , optimal control , discretization , mixed finite element method , extended finite element method , finite element limit analysis , mathematics , projection (relational algebra) , smoothed finite element method , mathematical optimization , control theory (sociology) , computer science , boundary knot method , control (management) , mathematical analysis , engineering , algorithm , structural engineering , artificial intelligence , boundary element method
The finite element method is applied to a typical problem in the optimal control theory. A finite element formulation is first set up, and then applied, as an example, to a problem of minimizing the transfer time of a low‐thrust rocket vehicle between the orbits of Earth and Mars. A procedure which combines the gradient projection technique with the Newton‐Raphson method is introduced to obtain numerically the solution of the minimum time transfer problem from the discretized functional. Numerical results show that the application of the finite element method to optimal control problems seems promising as well as encouraging.