Extended state observer based smooth switching control for tilt-rotor aircraft

A tilt-rotor aircraft has three flight modes: helicopter mode, airplane mode and conversion mode. Unlike the traditional aircraft, the tilt-rotor aircraft, which combines the characteristics of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, is a complex multi-body system with the violent variation of the aerodynamic parameters. For these characteristics, a new smooth switching control scheme is provided for the tilt-rotor aircraft. First, the reference commands for airspeed and nacelle angles are calculated by analyzing the conversion corridor and the conversion path. Subsequently, based on the finite-time switching theorem, an average dwell time condition is designed to guarantee the stability in the switching process. Besides, considering the state vibrations and bumps may appear in switching points, the fuzzy weighted logic is employed to improve the system transient performance. For disturbance rejection, three extended state observers are designed separately to estimate the disturbances in the switched systems. Compared with the traditional auto disturbance rejection control and proportion integration differentiation control, this method overcomes the conservatism of wasting the whole model information. The control performances of robustness and smoothness are verified with simulation, which shows that the new smooth switching control scheme is more targeted and superior than the traditional design method.

Study of RCS characteristics of tilt-rotor aircraft based on dynamic calculation approach

To study the Radar Cross-Section(RCS) characteristics of the tilt-rotor aircraft, a dynamic calculation approach that takes into account rotor rotation and nacelle tilt is presented.Physical optics and physical theory of diffraction are used to deal with the instantaneous electromagnetic scattering of the target. The RCS of the aircraft in the helicopter mode, fixed-wing mode and transition mode is analyzed. The results show that in the fixed-wing mode, the blade has a weaker deflection effect on the head incident wave in the horizontal plane. The helicopter mode improves the scattering of the rotor in the horizontal plane, while it increases the scattering source on the surface of the nacelle. At a fixed tilt angle, the RCS of the aircraft under a given azimuth angle still shows obvious dynamic characteristics. Dynamic tilting significantly changes the scattering effects of blades, hubs, nacelles and wingtips. The proposed approach is shown to be feasible and effective to learn the electromagnetic scattering characteristics of the tilt rotor aircraft.

Smooth tracking control for conversion mode of a tilt-rotor aircraft with switching modeling

This paper investigates the state-tracking control problem in conversion mode of a tilt-rotor aircraft with a switching modeling method and a smooth interpolation technique.Based on the nonlinear model of the conversion mode,a switched linear model is developed by using the Jacobian linearization method and designing the switching signal based on the mast angle.Furthermore,an ℋ_(∞) state-tracking control scheme is designed to deal with the conversion mode control issue.Moreover,instead of limiting the amplitude of control inputs,a smooth interpolation method is developed to create bumpless performance.Finally,the XV-15 tilt-rotor aircraft is chosen as a prototype to illustrate the effectiveness of this developed control method.

Augmented flight dynamics model for pilot workload evaluation in tilt-rotor aircraft optimal landing procedure after one engine failure

An augmented flight dynamics model is developed to extend the existing flight dynamics model of tilt-rotor aircraft for optimal landing procedure analysis in the event of one engine failure.Compared with the existing flight dynamics model, the augmented model involves with more pilot control information in cockpit and is validated against the flight test data. Based on the augmented flight dynamics model, the optimal landing procedure of XV-15 tilt-rotor aircraft after one engine failure is formulated into a Nonlinear Optimal Control Problem(NOCP), solved by collocation and numerical optimization method. The time histories of pilot controls in cockpit during the optimal landing procedure are obtained for the evaluation of pilot workload. An evaluation method which can synthetically quantify the pilot workload in time and frequency domains is proposed with metrics of aggressiveness and cutoff frequencies of pilot controls. The scale of the pilot workload is compared with those of the shipboard landing procedures, bob-up/bob-down and dash/quickstop maneuvers of UH-60 helicopter. The results show that the aggressiveness of pilot collective and longitudinal controls for the tilt-rotor aircraft optimal landing procedure after one engine failure are higher than those for UH-60 helicopter shipboard landing procedures up to the condition of sea state 4, while the pilot cutoff frequency of collective control is lower than that of the bob-up/bob-down maneuver but the pilot cutoff frequency of longitudinal control is higher than that of the dash/quick-stop maneuver. The evaluated pilot workload level is between Cooper–Harper HQR Level 2 and Level 3.

The Contribution of United States Aircraft Reconnaissance Data to the China Meteorological Administration Tropical Cyclone Intensity Data:An Evaluation of Homogeneity

This paper investigates the homogeneity of United States aircraft reconnaissance data and the impact of these data on the homogeneity of the tropical cyclone(TC)best track data for the seasons 1949-1987 generated by the China Meteorological Administration(CMA).The evaluation of the reconnaissance data shows that the minimum central sea level pressure(MCP)data are relatively homogeneous,whereas the maximum sustained wind(MSW)data show both overestimations and spurious abrupt changes.Statistical comparisons suggest that both the reconnaissance MCP and MSW were well incorporated into the CMA TC best track dataset.Although no spurious abrupt changes were evident in the reconnaissance-related best track MCP data,two spurious changepoints were identified in the remainder of the best-track MCP data.Furthermore,the influence of the reconnaissance MSWs seems to extend to the best track MSWs unrelated to reconnaissance,which might reflect the optimistic confidence in making higher estimates due to the overestimated extreme wind“observations”.In addition,the overestimation of either the reconnaissance MSWs or the best track MSWs was greater during the early decades compared to later decades,which reflects the important influence of reconnaissance data on the CMA TC best track dataset.The wind-pressure relationship(WPR)used in the CMA TC best track dataset is also evaluated and is found to overestimate the MSW,which may lead to inhomogeneity within the dataset between the aircraft reconnaissance era and the satellite era.

Analysis and Research on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Quad Tilt Rotor Aircraft

For the quad tilt rotor aircraft, a computational fluid dynamics method based on multiple reference frames (MRF) was used to analyze the influence of aerodynamic layout parameters on the aerodynamic characteristics of the quad tilt rotor aircraft. Firstly, a numerical simulation method for the interference flow field of the quad tilt rotor aircraft is established. Based on this method, the aerodynamic characteristics of isolated rotors, rotor combinations at different lateral positions on the wing, and rotor rotation directions under different inflow velocities were calculated and analyzed, in order to grasp their aerodynamic interference laws and provide reference for the design and control theory research of such aircraft.

Review on uncertainty analysis and information fusion diagnosis of aircraft control system

In the aircraft control system,sensor networks are used to sample the attitude and environmental data.As a result of the external and internal factors(e.g.,environmental and task complexity,inaccurate sensing and complex structure),the aircraft control system contains several uncertainties,such as imprecision,incompleteness,redundancy and randomness.The information fusion technology is usually used to solve the uncertainty issue,thus improving the sampled data reliability,which can further effectively increase the performance of the fault diagnosis decision-making in the aircraft control system.In this work,we first analyze the uncertainties in the aircraft control system,and also compare different uncertainty quantitative methods.Since the information fusion can eliminate the effects of the uncertainties,it is widely used in the fault diagnosis.Thus,this paper summarizes the recent work in this aera.Furthermore,we analyze the application of information fusion methods in the fault diagnosis of the aircraft control system.Finally,this work identifies existing problems in the use of information fusion for diagnosis and outlines future trends.

Asbestos Exposure during Gasket Removal from Aircraft Engine

We have previously evaluated asbestos exposure associated with various maintenance procedures on light aircraft. The purpose of this study was to evaluate asbestos exposure during engine maintenance on light aircraft. This test was designed to evaluate the potential for asbestos exposure to mechanics and others who remove asbestos-containing engine gaskets from reciprocating style aircraft engines. Utilized in this test was an air cooled, horizontally opposed, aviation gasoline burning engine, assembled during 1986 and operated intermittently up into 2015, having accumulated 1680 hours run time. Nearly 75% of the asbestos-containing gaskets installed during 1986 were still in place at the time of testing. Chrysotile asbestos contents of such gaskets ranged from 55% to 60% by area, for those of sheet style and 5% by area, for the spiral wound metal/asbestos style. Despite the levels of effort required to effect gasket removals, the professional aircraft mechanic was not exposed to airborne asbestos fibers at the lower limits of sampling and analytical detection achieved;all of which were substantially less than the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration Permissible Exposure Limits for asbestos. The results of this testing indicate an absence of gasket related asbestos exposure risk to mechanics who work with light aircraft engines, including those having asbestos-containing gaskets. These results are consistent with the findings of Mlyarek and Van Orden who studied the asbestos exposure risk occasioned during overhaul of larger radial style reciprocating aircraft engines [1].

Assessment of Meteorological Threats to the Coordinated Search and Rescue of Unmanned/Manned Aircraft

The architecture and working principle of coordinated search and rescue system of unmanned/manned aircraft,which is composed of manned/unmanned aircraft and manned aircraft,were first introduced,and they can cooperate with each other to complete a search and rescue task.Secondly,a threat assessment method based on meteorological data was proposed,and potential meteorological threats,such as storms and rainfall,can be predicted by collecting and analyzing meteorological data.Finally,an experiment was carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed method in different scenarios.The experimental results show that the coordinated search and rescue system of unmanned/manned aircraft can be used to effectively assess meteorological threats and provide accurate search and rescue guidance.

Multi-agent Based Hierarchy Simulation Models of Carrier-based Aircraft Catapult Launch

With the aid of multi-agent based modeling approach to complex systems, the hierarchy simulation models of carrier-based aircraft catapult launch are developed. Ocean, carrier, aircraft, and atmosphere are treated as aggregation agents, the detailed components like catapult, landing gears, and disturbances are considered as meta-agents, which belong to their aggregation agent. Thus, the model with two layers is formed i.e. the aggregation agent layer and the meta-agent layer. The information communication among all agents is described. The meta-agents within one aggregation agent communicate with each other directly by information sharing, but the meta-agents, which belong to different aggregation agents exchange their information through the aggregation layer first, and then perceive it from the sharing environment, that is the aggregation agent. Thus, not only the hierarchy model is built, but also the environment perceived by each agent is specified. Meanwhile, the problem of balancing the independency of agent and the resource consumption brought by real-time communication within multi-agent system （MAS） is resolved. Each agent involved in carrier-based aircraft catapult launch is depicted, with considering the interaction within disturbed atmospheric environment and multiple motion bodies including carrier, aircraft, and landing gears. The models of reactive agents among them are derived based on tensors, and the perceived messages and inner frameworks of each agent are characterized. Finally, some results of a simulation instance are given. The simulation and modeling of dynamic system based on multi-agent system is of benefit to express physical concepts and logical hierarchy clearly and precisely. The system model can easily draw in kinds of other agents to achieve a precise simulation of more complex system. This modeling technique makes the complex integral dynamic equations of multibodies decompose into parallel operations of single agent, and it is convenient to expand, maintain, and reuse the program codes.

基于MSC Adams/Aircraft的飞机起落架着陆动态性能分析

以某支柱式起落架飞机为原型,在MSCAdams/Aircraft平台上建立起落架及全机虚拟样机模型并进行落震仿真分析、全机着陆仿真分析.全机着陆仿真分析结果与落震仿真分析结果一致性较好,为在MSCAdams软件基础上进行飞机着陆过程虚拟技术研究奠定基础.

TASK EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION ON ANTI-SHIP ATTACK OF FIGHTER AIRCRAFT

The characteristics of the confrontation between fighters and air-defense systems on ship are analyzed. The approach of simulating operations of both sides is presented based on the combination of random-factor effectiveness simulation models and deterministic models. Two basic indices are proposed to indicate task effectiveness （i. e. the survival probability of the fighter team and the specified effect of damage on the fleet） and relative algo- rithms. To verify the approach, the situation that a fighter team attacks a collective defense fleet is exemplified and the task effectiveness of this case is also calculated. The method for evaluating task effectiveness on anti-ship attack can be applied in aircraft design and tactical research.

GRADE-LIFE PROGNOSTIC MODEL OF AIRCRAFT ENGINE BEARING

Research on practical and verifiable prediction methods for the service life of bearings plays a critical role in improving the reliability and safety of aircraft engines. The concept of grade-life （GL） is introduced to de- scribe the service life of bearings. A GL prognostic model for aircraft engine bearings is proposed based on sup- port vector machine （SVM） and fuzzy logic inference. Firstly, the mathematical model is discussed to predict the physics-based GL （PGL）. Then, the diagnostic estimation model based on SVM is presented in detail to predict the empirical GL （EPL）. Thirdly, a fuzzy logic inference is adopted to fuse two GL predicted results. Finally, the GL prognostic model is verified by the run-to-failure data acquired from an accelerated life test of an aircraft bearing. The results show that the model provides a more practical and reliable prediction for the service life of bearings.

Investigation of electrostriction appliance and its applicationfor bionics flapping aircraft

A novel design for an electrostriction appliance derived from the theory and application of electromagnetics is presented. The working principle, that is the application of gravitation and elasticity together to realize the ＂shrinking＂ and ＂extending＂ effect from the distortion and transforming power into mechanical energy, is briefly explained. The characteristic parameter relationships are established and the experimental research is performed. Experimental results show that this sort of electrostriction appliance can perform well as regards driving force and beeline displacement, and furthermore, its self-weight is smaller. This makes it suitable for beeline drivers with a high application value, especially for the driver of the bionic appliance. In the application of the electrostriction appliance to a bionics-flapping aircraft, the wings can work with a flapping angle in the range of a certain value by controlling the ＂shrinking＂ and ＂extending＂ of the electrostriction appliance. It can reduce the startup power and the impact load of the driver. The flapping extent of the wings will change when the voltage which is put into the electrostriction appliance varies. This makes it more flexible as the bionics-flapping aircraft realizes different actions of flying.

NOVEL AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM BASED ON DISTRIBUTED COMPUTER

As a matured technique used in many fields,the distributed computer system is still a new management method for the aeronautical electrical power distribution system in our country. In this paper, a novel aircraft electrical power distribution system based on the distributed computer system is proposed. The principles, features and structure of the aircraft electrical power distribution system and the distributed computer system named electrical load management system (ELMS) are studied. The ELMS composed of four electrical load management centers (ELMCs) and two power source processors (PSPs) operates in the 1553B buses. Principles of the ELMCs and the PSPs are introduced. With the application of the distributed computer system, the aircraft electrical power distribution system is simple, adaptable and flexible.

基于ADAMS/Aircraft的舰载机逃逸性能分析

文章基于MSC ADAMS/Aircraft平台,建立了目标舰载机得起落架、轮胎、机身及全机虚拟样机模型,并进行飞机逃逸仿真分析,结果表明目标舰载机具有较好的逃逸性能。

ESTIMATION METHOD FOR AIRCRAFT SIMILARITY BASED ON FUZZY THEORY AND GREY INCIDENCE ANALYSIS

An estimation method for aircraft similarity based on fuzzy theory and grey incidence analysis is presented. This estimation method is made up of the triangular fuzzy transforming model of linguistic variables and the method of grey incidence analysis. Nine feature attributes of aircraft are selected to estimate the similarity between the new aircraft and the existing aircraft. A new aircraft X and other six existing aircrafts are taken as examples. Analyses show that similarity estimation results obtained from the method are in accordance with practice.

AIRCRAFT FLIGHT SAFETY ANALYSIS IN LOW ALTITUDE AIRSPACE

The low altitude airspace will be open in China, general aviation flights are tremendously increased. Whether aircrafts can fly safely and how to determine the requirements of safety flight are the problems needed to be confirmed. Under this circumstances, based on the international Civil Aviation Organization（ICAO） criteria and the standards made by CAAC, this paper adopts the ＂See and Avoid＂ principle. Under the binding conditions of flight rules, visibility requirements, responding time, the aircraft speed, circle banking angle or the climbing angle, based on its study on aircraft dynamics principles, this paper establishes a mathematical collision avoidance model for head-to-head traffic and crossing converging traffic at the same level. And the safety separation requirements of the aircrafts in low altitude flight are equantitatively analyzed. Finally, the Matlab software is used to analyze the above method. The result shows that the safe traffic avoidance of the converging traffic at the same level meets certain flight conditions, while intersecting the traffic at the same level can safely avoid the collision.

METHOD FOR ESTIMATING GEOMETIC CHARACTERISTICS OF NUMERICAL CONCEPTUAL AIRCRAFT MODELS BASED ON SURFACE ELEMENTS

To estimate the geometric characteristics, especially wet areas and section areas, of three dimensional numerical conceptual aircraft models, a method based on surface elements is proposed. On the premise that numerous surface elements are generated to represent each component surface, a component wet area of the surface is estimated by adding up the areas of such elements that are not covered by any other component surfaces. The elements are also used to get the section polygons of such composite surfaces as the whole aircraft at a given body station, then a section area is approximated with the sum of trapezoidal areas between such sides of polygons that are not covered by any other component and a reference axis. Practical application to a computer aided aircraft conceptual design system shows that the methed is applicable to different kinds of conceptual aircraft models and its precision is satisfying to the conceptual design.

DELAY-TIME MODEL BASED ON IMPERFECT INSPECTION OF AIRCRAFT STRUCTURE WITHIN FINITE TIME SPAN

According to the failure characteristics of aircraft structure, a delay-time model is an effective method to optimize maintenance for aircraft structure. To imitate the practical situation as much as possible, imperfect inspections, thresholds and repeated intervals are concerned in delay-time models. Since the suggestion by the existing delay-time models that the inspections are implemented in an infinite time span lacks practical value, a de- lay-time model with imperfect inspection within a finite time span is proposed. In the model, the nonhomogenous Poisson process is adopted to obtain the renewal probabilities between two different successive inspections on de- fects or failures. An algorithm is applied based on the Nelder-Mead downhill simplex method to solve the model. Finally, a numerical example proves the validity and effectiveness of the model.