An equation decoupling technique for identification of unstable aircraft with unsteady aerodynamic modelling

Abstract

AbstractA simplified trailing vortex concept has been used to model unsteady aerodynamic effects onto the mathematical model for an augmented unstable aircraft. An output error method with, and without, an equation decoupling technique in the frequency domain has been used for the estimation of parameters. The two approaches of estimation are compared for the cases where unsteady effects are included or excluded from the estimation model. It is shown that the incorporation of the equation decoupling technique makes the estimation algorithm robust with respect to initial guess values of the parameters. Finally, the inclusion of unsteady aerodynamics is shown to reduce the variation in the parameter estimates due to different control input forms.