Abstract: The dynamics of a coupled rigid-flexible rocket launcher is reported. The coupled rigid-flexible rocket launcher is divided into two subsystems, one is a system of rigid bodies, the other a flexible launch tube which can undergo large overall motions spatially. First, the mathematical models for these two subsystems were established respectively. Then the dynamic model for the whole system was obtained by considering the coupling effect between these two subsystems. The approach, which divides a complex system into several simple subsystems first and then obtains the dynamic model for the whole system via combining the existing dynamic models for simple subsystems, can make the modeling pr~xlure efficient and convenient.

Key words: coupled rigid-flexible system, rocket launcher, dynamic modeling, inclusion and crack, inclusion-branching crack, stress intensityfactor, interface stress