Incorporation of Feedback Control into a High-Fidelity Aeroservoelastic Fighter Aircraft Model

Abstract

Flight testing for aeroservoelastic clearance is an expensive and time consuming process. Large degree-of-freedom high-fidelity nonlinear aircraft models using computational fluid dynamics coupled with finite element models can be used for accurately predicting aeroelastic phenomena in all flight regimes including subsonic, supersonic, and transonic. With the incorporation of an active feedback control system, these high-fidelity models can be used to reduce the flight-test time needed for aeroservoelastic clearance. Accurate computational fluid dynamics/finite element models are computationally complex, rendering their runtime ill suited for adequate flight control system design. In this work, a complex, large-degree-of-freedom, transonic, inviscid computational fluid dynamics/finite element model of a fighter aircraft is fitted with a flight control system for aeroelastic oscillation reduction. A linear reduced-order model of the complete aeroelastic aircraft dynamic system is produced directly from the high-order nonlinear computational fluid dynamics/finite element model. This rapid runtime reduced-order model is used for the design of the flight control system, which includes models of the actuators and common nonlinearities in the form of rate limiting and saturation. The oscillation reduction controller is successfully demonstrated via a simulated flight test using the high-fidelity nonlinear computational fluid dynamics/finite element/flight control system model.