REDUCING STRUCTURAL COUPLING ON A FLEXIBLE BEAM USING KALMAN FILTERS

Abstract

Structural coupling is the disturbance to the aircraft's inertial sensors caused by the flexibility in the airframe, and is particularly problematic for modern combat aircraft. The current solution uses a series of notch filters to remove the structural frequencies, but these introduce significant phase delays into the control loop. This paper presents some experimental and theoretical results from a flexible beam, and the use of Kalman filters to reduce the effects of structural coupling. This work is part of an ongoing project in conjunction with BAE Systems.