Control of surfaces in confined spaces : Tab-aileron control system development
Francois Johannes Rupert · SUNScholar (Stellenbosch University) · 2011
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis forms part of the Control Surfaces in Confined Spaces (CoSICS) project conducted at Stellenbosch University. The aim of this project is reduction of control surface actuator footprints on the existing wing structures of commercial airliners such as the Airbus A320 and A330. This is achieved by reducing control surface hinge moments through the application of trailing edge tabs. This results in smaller actuator requirements. The first tier of the project focussed on the geometric optimisation of the tab applied to an aileron. This thesis focusses on the development of dynamic control of the aileron through either tab-only or concurrent tab and aileron actuation. In the effort to develop dynamic control, a fully coupled generalised dynamic model of the tab and aileron is derived and presented. Through linearisation of this model, linear controllers are developed. Two distinctly different controllers are presented; the first controller makes use of classical methods for control of the tab-only actuated aileron and the second controller makes use of modern control techniques such as full state feedback to facilitate controlled concurrent tab and aileron actuation. Each proposed controller is evaluated in terms of dynamic performance, robustness, disturbance rejection and noise immunity. Based on the controller development, a summary of dynamic actuator requirements is given. Practical verification of the model and the controller performance is then undertaken. The development of the necessary hardware and software is also presented. The concept of aileron control through tab-only actuation and concurrent tab and aileron actuation is then validated. Conclusion are then drawn about the accuracy of the theoretical model and the practical performance of the controllers. The thesis is concluded with recommendations for future work to increase the fidelity of the model. Important aspects about the practical implementation of the concept on commercial jetliners are also summarised.