Control of surfaces in confined spaces : Tab-aileron control system development

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis forms part of the Control Surfaces in Confined Spaces (CoSICS) project conductedat Stellenbosch University. The aim of this project is reduction of control surfaceactuator footprints on the existing wing structures of commercial airliners such as theAirbus A320 and A330. This is achieved by reducing control surface hinge momentsthrough 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 tabapplied to an aileron. This thesis focusses on the development of dynamic control of theaileron through either tab-only or concurrent tab and aileron actuation.In the effort to develop dynamic control, a fully coupled generalised dynamic model ofthe tab and aileron is derived and presented. Through linearisation of this model, linearcontrollers are developed. Two distinctly different controllers are presented; the firstcontroller makes use of classical methods for control of the tab-only actuated aileronand the second controller makes use of modern control techniques such as full statefeedback to facilitate controlled concurrent tab and aileron actuation. Each proposedcontroller is evaluated in terms of dynamic performance, robustness, disturbance rejectionand noise immunity. Based on the controller development, a summary of dynamicactuator 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 conceptof aileron control through tab-only actuation and concurrent tab and aileron actuationis then validated. Conclusion are then drawn about the accuracy of the theoreticalmodel and the practical performance of the controllers.The thesis is concluded with recommendations for future work to increase the fidelityof the model. Important aspects about the practical implementation of the concept oncommercial jetliners are also summarised.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University