Evaluation Model of Design for Operation and Architecture of Hierarchical Virtual Simulation for Flight Vehicle Design

In order to take requirements for commercial operations or military missions into better consideration in new flight vehicle design, a tri-hierarchical task classification model of "design for operation" is proposed, which takes basic man-object interaction task, complex collaborative operation and large-scale joint operation into account. The corresponding general architecture of evaluation criteria is also depicted. Then a virtual simulation-based approach to implement the evaluations at three hierarchy levels is mainly analyzed with a detailed example, which validates the feasibility and effectiveness of evaluation architecture. Finally, extending the virtual simulation architecture from design to operation training is discussed.     

Multi-body dynamic system simulation of carrier-based aircraft ski-jump takeoff

The flight safety is threatened by the special flight conditions and the low speed of carrier-based aircraft ski-jump takeoff. The aircraft carrier motion, aircraft dynamics, landing gears and wind field of sea state are comprehensively considered to dispose this multidiscipline intersection problem. According to the particular naval operating environment of the carrier-based aircraft ski-jump takeoff, the integrated dynamic simulation models of multi-body system are developed, which involves the movement entities of the carrier, the aircraft and the landing gears, and involves takeoff instruction, control system and the deck wind disturbance. Based on Matlab/Simulink environment, the multi-body system simulation is realized. The validity of the model and the rationality of the result are verified by an example simulation of carrier-based aircraft ski-jump takeoff. The simulation model and the software are suitable for the study of the multidiscipline intersection problems which are involved in the performance, flight quality and safety of carrier-based aircraft takeoff, the effects of landing gear loads, parameters of carrier deck, etc.     

基于多Agent的舰载机弹射起飞仿真层次模型(英文)

With the aid of multi-agent based modeling approach to complex systems, the hierarchy simulation models of carrier-based aircraft catapult launch are developed. Ocean, carrier, aircraft, and atmosphere are treated as aggregation agents, the detailed components like catapult, landing gears, and disturbances are considered as meta-agents, which belong to their aggregation agent. Thus, the model with two layers is formed i.e. the aggregation agent layer and the meta-agent layer. The information communication among all agents is described. The meta-agents within one aggregation agent communicate with each other directly by information sharing, but the meta-agents, which belong to different aggregation agents exchange their information through the aggregation layer first, and then perceive it from the sharing environment, that is the aggregation agent. Thus, not only the hierarchy model is built, but also the environment perceived by each agent is specified. Meanwhile, the problem of balancing the independency of agent and the resource consumption brought by real-time communication within multi-agent system （MAS） is resolved. Each agent involved in carrier-based aircraft catapult launch is depicted, with considering the interaction within disturbed atmospheric environment and multiple motion bodies including carrier, aircraft, and landing gears. The models of reactive agents among them are derived based on tensors, and the perceived messages and inner frameworks of each agent are characterized. Finally, some results of a simulation instance are given. The simulation and modeling of dynamic system based on multi-agent system is of benefit to express physical concepts and logical hierarchy clearly and precisely. The system model can easily draw in kinds of other agents to achieve a precise simulation of more complex system. This modeling technique makes the complex integral dynamic equations of multibodies decompose into parallel operations of single agent, and it is convenient to expand, maintain, and reuse the pro     

Theory of Economic Life Prediction and Reliability Assessment of Aircraft Structures

The theory of economic life prediction and reliability assessment of aircraft structures has a significant effect on safety of air-craft structures.It is based on the two-stage theory of fatigue process and can guarantee the safety and reliability of structures.According to the fatigue damage process,the fatigue scatter factors of crack initiation stage and crack propagation stage are given respectively.At the same time,mathematical models of fatigue life prediction are presented by utilizing the fatigue scatter factors and full scale test results of aircraft structures.Furthermore,the economic life model is put forward.The model is of sig-nificant scientific value for products to provide longer economic life,higher reliability and lower cost.The theory of economic life prediction and reliability assessment of aircraft structures has been successfully applied to determining and extending the structural life for thousands of airplanes.     

Aircraft vulnerability modeling and computation methods based on product structure and CATIA

Survivability strengthening/vulnerability reduction designs have become one of the most important design disciplines of military aircraft now. Due to progressiveness and complexity of modern combat aircraft, the existing vulnerability modeling and computation methods cannot meet the current engineering application requirements. Therefore, a vulnerability modeling and computation method based on product structure and CATIA is proposed in sufficient consideration of the design characteristics of modern combat aircraft. This method directly constructs the aircraft vulnerability model by CATIA or the digital model database, and manages all the product components of the vulnerability model via aircraft product structure. Using CAA second development, the detailed operations and computation methods of vulnerability analysis are integrated into CATIA software environment. Comprehensive assessment data and visual kill probability Iso-contours can also be presented, which meet the vulnerability analysis requirements of modern combat aircraft effectively. The intact vulnerability model of one hypothetical aircraft is constructed, and the effects of redundant technology to the aircraft vulnerability are assessed, which validate the engineering practicality of the method.     

Active fault tolerant control for vertical tail damaged aircraft with dissimilar redundant actuation system

This paper proposes an active fault-tolerant control strategy for an aircraft with dissim-ilar redundant actuation system (DRAS) that has suffered from vertical tail damage. A damage degree coefficient based on the effective vertical tail area is introduced to parameterize the damaged flight dynamic model. The nonlinear relationship between the damage degree coefficient and the corresponding stability derivatives is considered. Furthermore, the performance degradation of new input channel with electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is also taken into account in the dam-aged flight dynamic model. Based on the accurate damaged flight dynamic model, a composite method of linear quadratic regulator (LQR) integrating model reference adaptive control (MRAC) is proposed to reconfigure the fault-tolerant control law. The numerical simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed fault-tolerant control strategy with accurate flight dynamic model. The results also indicate that aircraft with DRAS has better fault-tolerant control ability than the traditional ones when the vertical tail suffers from serious damage.     

Fuzzy adaptive robust control for space robot considering the effect of the gravity

Space robot is assembled and tested in gravity environment, and completes on-orbit service（OOS） in microgravity environment. The kinematic and dynamic characteristic of the robot will change with the variations of gravity in different working condition. Fully considering the change of kinematic and dynamic models caused by the change of gravity environment, a fuzzy adaptive robust control（FARC） strategy which is adaptive to these model variations is put forward for trajectory tracking control of space robot. A fuzzy algorithm is employed to approximate the nonlinear uncertainties in the model, adaptive laws of the parameters are constructed, and the approximation error is compensated by using a robust control algorithm. The stability of the control system is guaranteed based on the Lyapunov theory and the trajectory tracking control simulation is performed. The simulation results are compared with the proportional plus derivative（PD） controller, and the effectiveness to achieve better trajectory tracking performance under different gravity environment without changing the control parameters and the advantage of the proposed controller are verified.     

Robust Control for Static Loading of Electro-hydraulic Load Simulator with Friction Compensation

Load simulator is a key test equipment for aircraft actuation systems in hardware-in-the-loop-simulation. Static loading is an essential function of the load simulator and widely used in the static/dynamic stiffness test of aircraft actuation systems. The tracking performance of the static loading is studied in this paper. Firstly, the nonlinear mathematical models of the hydraulic load simulator are derived, and the feedback linearization method is employed to construct a feed-forward controller to improve the force tracking performance. Considering the effect of the friction, a LuGre model based friction compensation is synthesized, in which the unmeasurable state is estimated by a dual state observer via a controlled learning mechanism to guarantee that the estimation is bounded. The modeling errors are attenuated by a well-designed robust controller with a control accuracy measured by a design parameter. Employing the dual state observer is to capture the different effects of the unmeasured state and hence can improve the friction compensation accuracy. The tracking performance is summarized by a derived theorem. Experimental results are also obtained to verify the high performance nature of the proposed control strategy.     

Intelligent feedforward gust alleviation based on neural network

This paper proposes a neural network-based intelligent feedforward gust alleviation framework, which includes a neural network identification model and a neural network controller.A neural network training dataset is formed by collecting flight data and the gust data encountered during the aircraft flight. A neural network identification model is first trained to accurately predict the aircraft’s output. Then, based on the output of the identification model and the collected flight data, the par...     

Aircraft-on-ground path following control by dynamical adaptive backstepping

The necessity of improving the air traffic and reducing the aviation emissions drives to investigate automatic steering for aircraft to effectively roll on the ground. This paper addresses the path following control problem of aircraft-on-ground and focuses on the task that the aircraft is required to follow the desired path on the runway by nose wheel automatic steering. The proposed approach is based on dynamical adaptive backstepping so that the system model does not have to be transformed into a canonical triangular form which is necessary in conventional backstepping design. This adaptive controller performs well despite the lack of information on the aerodynamic load and the tire cornering stiffness parameters. Simulation results clearly demonstrate the advantages and effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Modeling and simulation of a time-varying inertia aircraft in aerial refueling

Studied in this paper is dynamic modeling and simulation application of the receiver aircraft with the time-varying mass and inertia property in an integrated simulation environment which includes two other significant factors, i.e., a hose–drogue assembly dynamic model with the variable-length property and the wind effect due to the tanker's trailing vortices. By extending equations of motion of a fixed weight aircraft derived by Lewis et al., a new set of equations of motion for a receiver in aerial refueling is derived. The equations include the time-varying mass and inertia property due to fuel transfer and the fuel consumption by engines, and the fuel tanks have a rectangle shape rather than a mass point. They are derived in terms of the translational and rotational position and velocity of the receiver with respect to an inertial reference frame. A linear quadratic regulator(LQR) controller is designed based on a group of linearized equations under the initial receiver mass condition. The equations of motion of the receiver with a LQR controller are implemented in the integrated simulation environment for autonomous approaching and station-keeping of the receiver in simulations.     

H∞ output tracking control for flight control systems with time-varying delay

For flight control systems with time-varying delay, an H∞ output tracking controller is proposed. The controller is designed for the discrete-time state-space model of general aircraft to reduce the effects of uncertainties of the mathematical model, external disturbances, and bounded time-varying delay. It is assumed that the feedback-control loop is closed by the communication network, and the network-based control architecture induces time-delays in the feedback information. Suppose that the time delay has both an upper bound and a lower bound. By using the Lyapu- nov-Krasovskii function and the linear matrix inequality （LMI）, the delay-dependent stability criterion is derived for the time-delay system. Based on the criterion, a state-feedback H∞ output tracking controller for systems with norm-bounded uncertainties and time-varying delay is presented. The control scheme is applied to the high incidence research model （HIRM）, which shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Nonlinear dynamic modeling of a helicopter planetary gear train for carrier plate crack fault diagnosis

Planetary gear train plays a significant role in a helicopter operation and its health is of great importance for the flight safety of the helicopter. This paper investigates the effects of a planet carrier plate crack on the dynamic characteristics of a planetary gear train, and thus finds an effec-tive method to diagnose crack fault. A dynamic model is developed to analyze the torsional vibra-tion of a planetary gear train with a cracked planet carrier plate. The model takes into consideration nonlinear factors such as the time-varying meshing stiffness, gear backlash and viscous damping. Investigation of the deformation of the cracked carrier plate under static stress is performed in order to simulate the dynamic effects of the planet carrier crack on the angular displacement of car-rier posts. Validation shows good accuracy of the developed dynamic model in predicting dynamic characteristics of a planetary gear train. Fault features extracted from predictions of the model reveal the correspondence between vibration characteristic and the conditions (length and position) of a planet carrier crack clearly.     

Safety modeling and simulation of multi-factor coupling heavy-equipment airdrop

Heavy-equipment airdrop is a highly risky procedure that has a complicated system due to the secluded and complex nature of factors＇ coupling. As a result, it is difficult to study the modeling and safety simulation of this system. The dynamic model of the heavy-equipment airdrop is based on the Lagrange analytical mechanics, which has all the degrees of freedom and can accurately pinpoint the real-time coordinates and attitude of the carrier with its cargo. Unfavorable conditions accounted in the factors＇ models, including aircraft malfunctions and adverse environments, are established from a man-machine-environment perspective. Subsequently, a virtual simulation system for the safety research of the multi-factor coupling heavy-equipment airdrop is developed through MATLAB/Simulink, C language and Flightgear software. To verify the veracity of the theory, the verification model is built based on dynamic software ADAMS. Finally, the emulation is put to the test with the input of realistic accident variables to ascertain its feasibility and validity of this method.     

An integrated graphic–taxonomic–associative approach to analyze human factors in aviation accidents

Human factors are critical causes of modern aviation accidents. However, existing accident analysis methods encounter limitations in addressing aviation human factors, especially in complex accident scenarios. The existing graphic approaches are effective for describing accident mechanisms within various categories of human factors, but cannot simultaneously describe inadequate human–aircraft–environment interactions and organizational deficiencies effectively, and highly depend on analysts' skills and experiences. Moreover, the existing methods do not emphasize latent unsafe factors outside accidents. This paper focuses on the above three limitations and proposes an integrated graphic–taxonomic–associative approach. A new graphic model named accident tree(AcciTree), with a two-mode structure and a reaction-based concept, is developed for accident modeling and safety defense identification. The AcciTree model is then integrated with the well-established human factors analysis and classification system(HFACS) to enhance both reliability of the graphic part and logicality of the taxonomic part for improving completeness of analysis. An associative hazard analysis technique is further put forward to extend analysis to factors outside accidents, to form extended safety requirements for proactive accident prevention. Two crash examples, a research flight demonstrator by our team and an industrial unmanned aircraft, illustrate that the integrated approach is effective for identifying more unsafe factors and safety requirements.     

Non-fragile switched H_∞ control for morphing aircraft with asynchronous switching

This paper deals with the problem of non-fragile linear parameter-varying(LPV) H_∞ control for morphing aircraft with asynchronous switching.The switched LPV model of morphing aircraft is established by Jacobian linearization approach according to the nonlinear model.The data missing is taken into account in the link from sensors to controllers and the link from controllers to actuators,which satisfies Bernoulli distribution.The non-fragile switched LPV controllers are constructed with consideration of the uncertainties of controllers and asynchronous switching phenomenon.The parameter-dependent Lyapunov functional method and mode-dependent average dwell time(MDADT) method are combined to guarantee the stability and prescribed performance of the system.The sufficient conditions on the solvability of the problem are derived in the form of linear matrix inequalities(LMI).In order to achieve higher efficiency of the designing process,an algorithm is applied to divide the whole set into subsets automatically.Simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness and superiority of the method in the paper.     

Reliability Analysis of Aircraft Condition Monitoring Network Using an Enhanced BDD Algorithm

The aircraft condition monitoring network is responsible for collecting the status of each component in aircraft. The reliability of this network has a significant effect on safety of the aircraft. The aircraft condition monitoring network works in a real-time manner that all the data should be transmitted within the deadline to ensure that the control center makes proper decision in time. Only the connectedness between the source node and destination cannot guarantee the data to be transmitted in time. In this paper, we take the time deadline into account and build the task-based reliability model. The binary decision diagram (BDD), which has the merit of efficiency in computing and storage space, is introduced when calculating the reliability of the network and addressing the essential variable. A case is analyzed using the algorithm proposed in this paper. The experimental results show that our method is efficient and proper for the reliability analysis of the real-time network.     

Thermal comfort assessment in civil aircraft cabins

Aircraft passengers are more and demanding in terms of thermal comfort. But it is not yet easy for aircraft crew to control the environment control system(ECS) that satisfies the thermal comfort for most passengers due to a number of causes. This paper adopts a corrected predicted mean vote(PMV) model and an adaptive model to assess the thermal comfort conditions for 31 investigated flights and draws the conclusion that there does exist an uncomfortable thermal phenomenon in civil aircraft cabins, especially in some short-haul continental flights. It is necessary to develop an easy way to predict the thermal sensation of passengers and to direct the crew to control ECS. Due to the assessment consistency of the corrected PMV model and the adaptive model, the adaptive model of thermal neutrality temperature can be used as a method to predict the cabin optimal operative temperature. Because only the mean outdoor effective temperature ET* of a departure city is an input variable for the adaptive model, this method can be easily understood and implemented by the crew and can satisfy 80–90% of the thermal acceptability levels of passengers.