Dissertation
Switching control design for aircraft actuator failures
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001078
Abstract
Loss-of-control (LOC) recovery of impaired aircraft actuator failures is a challenging control problem due to the loss of control service authority, uncertain persistent disturbances, sudden shift of flight trim, flight mode confusion, and rapid deterioration of LOC condition. In this study, the NASA GTM (Generic Transport Model) aircraft is employed to demonstrate the proposed multivariable H2 servomechanism control solution that can stabilize the impaired aircraft at the desired flight mode constrained by the actuator failure and performing precision regulation/tracking for altitude, flight path, sideslip, and yaw angle rate - providing the stability and maneuverability required to keep the aircraft flying and allow for a safe landing. The actuator failures considered in this work include a jammed elevator control and a loss of engine thrust for multi-engine aircraft. For the GTM aircraft LOC recovery control application of a jammed elevator case, the challenging issue in predesigning a fixed mitigating controller is that the jam position is unknown until it actually occurs. By modeling the unknown jammed position as an uncertain disturbance with the help of servomechanism regulator theory, we are able to employ only two linear H2/servomechanism controllers to cover all elevator jams that may occur in the recoverable range. In the case of engine failures, one may believe that an aircraft with multiple engines will have a better survival rate than a single-engine aircraft; however, the statistical data show the opposite. Although the pilots are trained to fly aircraft experiencing engine failure, the manual mitigation procedure is complicated, especially for asymmetrical engine failures. Our proposed automated control system is capable of utilizing the diversified redundant features of the rudder and ailerons to work with the remaining engines to maintain a stable flight until a safe landing can be achieved.
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Details
- Title
- Switching control design for aircraft actuator failures
- Creators
- Mevlut Bayram
- Contributors
- Bor-Chin Chang (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- xiii, 113 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Engineering (1970-2026); Mechanical Engineering (and Mechanics) (1970-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991018526908104721