Dynamics and adaptive fault-tolerant flight control under structure damage of horizontal stabilizer

Abstract

This paper proposes a mathematical model and an adaptive flight controller that considers structural damage to the horizontal stabilizer of an aircraft. The aerodynamic derivatives are determined based on the structural damage rate of the horizontal stabilizer. A failure model that considers the aerodynamic derivatives of the damaged horizontal stabilizer is established, and the efficiency coefficients is modified based on wind tunnel experiments. An adaptive fault-tolerant control law based on parameter estimation is designed to achieve active fault tolerance in case of horizontal stabilizer damage. The simulation and experimental results indicate that the proposed model and adaptive fault-tolerant controller provide preferable performance when the horizontal stabilizer is damaged.