To Stability & Control
To Stability & Control
To Stability & Control
AE 1350
Unstable
Freestream
Unexpected Gust Will it recover automatically (without pilot intervention) and resume its original direction of flight? If yes in the pitch axis, then the aircraft is longitudinally stable
Types of Stability
Static Stability: The spring like tendency to return to the equilibrium position Dynamic Stability: The property of returning to the equilibrium position over time Can an aircraft be statically unstable but dynamically stable? No Can an aircraft be statically stable but dynamically unstable? Yes
The initial tendency of the vehicle is to bring the nose down The aircraft is statically stable
Initial tendency and long-term tendency both are to recover from a gust or disturbance
Aircraft c.g. (center of Gravity) A gust generates a small moment about c.g. dM, and lift dL For static stability, if dL is positive (upward gust), dM must be negative, causing the nose to drop Otherwise the wing will pitch up further increasing lift dM/dL must be negative for static stability
Nondimensionalization
Lift and pitching moment M are usually non-dimensionalized L is divided by [1/2 V2 S] to yield CL M is divided by [1/2 V 2 S c] to yield CM Here, c is a reference length, e.g. average chord
Static Margin
From previous, dM/dL must be negative for static stability In nondimensional form, dCM/dCL must be negative for static stability The quantity -dCM/dCL is called the static stability margin
Notice the negative sign!
The more positive it is, the more longitudinally stable the aircraft Usually determines the maximum aft c.g. location
Aircraft c.g. Rule #1 : Place the c.g. as far forward as possible - This will cause the nose to drop, if lift increases due to a gust, reducing , and lift; the opposite will occur if there is downward gust
Aircraft c.g. Rule #2 : Place the horizontal tail as far aft as possible - This will cause the nose to drop, if there is a vertical gust, reducing , and lift; the opposite will occur if there is downward gust A canard is a tail upstream of the c.g., reduced static stability (move wing aft or c.g. forward to compensate)
Nondimensionalized:
C M = CM ac , wing + (h hac , wing )C L wing VH C L tail h = nondimensional location of c.g. hac,wing = nondimensional location of wing ltail Stail VH = Sc
Nomenclature
ltail
hc
hac , wing c
ltail S tail VH = Sc
Neutral Point
C.g. location that is neutrally stable, hn
CM CM = = a (hn hac , wing ) atailVH 1 =0
Static margin is, essentially, how far the c.g. is from this neutral point
hn = hac , wing + VH atail a 1
The Wrights
Conventional Wisdom: Airplane should hold course, and the pilot should deflect the rudder to turn, the Boat Model Wrights invented wing warping, first lateral control Early Wright airplanes were unstable, difficult to fly, and maneuverable
These aircraft must be actively controlled by the pilot, or an onboard computer Redundant computer systems are present in case a computer fails
zzz +
Can Reduce Stability (and therefore drag) in Cruise by Pumping Fuel to Tail
Stability and Control Augmentation can be used to make the aircraft behave very differently
Super-augmented Aircraft
F-16
X-29
Directional Stability
Freestream comes from pilots right side, due to cross wind It causes nose to rotate to left viewed from the top The force on the tail causes the aircraft to rotate back to original direction
A cross wind may cause the nose to rotate about the vertical axis, changing the flight direction The vertical tail behaves like a wing at an angle of attack, producing a side force, rotates the aircraft to its original direction All of this occurs without pilot action or intervention
Enough Vertical Fin for Lightly Damped Directional Oscillations Dutch Roll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLe8ajpGNTs
Rudders: B747
Rudders
Lateral Stability
It is the ability of the aircraft to recover from a roll disturbance without pilot intervention
accelerate
Weight
Weight
A portion of the lift is pointed sideways The vehicle moves laterally This is called sideslip
During sideslip, a relative wind flows from right to left: Lateral Static Stability
A similar downwash occurs on the left wing, reducing lift Lift This wind has a component normal to the wing on the right, viewing from the front flow This is an up-wash As a result, the aircraft rights itself, and recovers from the roll! The up-wash increases lift on the right wing
Anhedral
If the wing dips down from root to tip, it has an anhedral
Dihedral Effect
Dihedral effect can come from
From wing dihedral, high wing, or wing sweep From vertical tail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm7_PPE-8nk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-cM3wPpCPw
http://uav.ae.gatech.edu/videos/e050624b3_60fps.mpg
60 ft/sec Autoflight
60 aileron (% of max) pitch angle (deg) 80 60 40 20 0 800 100 80 throttle (%) 60 40 20 850 900 time (sec) 950 0 800 850 900 time (sec) 950 rudder (% of max) 850 900 time (sec) 950 speed (ft/sec)
100 50 0 -50
40
20
height (ft)
950
-100 800
950
1000
500
950
West (ft)
http://uav.ae.gatech.edu/videos/e050912f2_transitionToAndFromHover.mpg
Actuator Positions
1
m0 (rudder)
m1 (elevator) m2 (ailerons)
Throttle
10
20
30
40 time / s
50
60
70
http://uav.ae.gatech.edu/videos/e060509a1_rapidTransition.mpg
Pitot FCS20
60
throttle(%)
50
40
30
20
10
220 215 210 205 altitude(ft)
10
20
30 40 time(sec)
50
60
70
200
measured command
100
0
200 195 190 185 180
-100 -900
-800
-700
-600
-300
-200
-100
10
20
30 40 time(sec)
50
60
70
http://uav.ae.gatech.edu/videos/ta1_090415c1_propulsionOnly.wmv
http://uav.ae.gatech.edu/videos/ta1_090415c1_propulsionOnly.wmv
http://uav.ae.gatech.edu/videos/ta1_091002c1_50percentDrop.wmv
0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8