Sliding mode control design for oblique wing aircraft in wing skewing process

When the wing of Oblique Wing Aircraft (OWA) is skewed, the center of gravity, inertia and aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft all significantly change, causing an undesirable flight dynamic response, affecting the flying qualities, and even endangering the flight safety. In this study, the dynamic response of an OWA in the wing skewing process is simulated, showing that the three-axis movements of the OWA are highly coupled and present nonlinear characteristics during the wing skewing. As the roll control efficiency of the aileron decreases due to the shortened control arm in an oblique configuration, the all-moving horizontal tail is used for additional roll and the control allocation is performed based on minimum control energy. Given the properties of pitch-roll-yaw coupling and control input and state coupling, and the difficulty of establishing an accurate aerodynamic model in the wing skewing process due to unsteady aerodynamic force, a multi-loop sliding mode controller is formulated by the time-scale separation method. The closed-loop simulation results show that the asymmetric aerodynamics can be balanced and that the velocity and altitude of the aircraft maintain stable, which means that a smooth transition is obtained during the OWA’s wing skewing.     

Study of highly perturbed spacecraft formation dynamics via approximation

This paper explores methods for approximating and analyzing the dynamics of highly perturbed spacecraft formations with an emphasis on computationally efficient approaches. This facilitates on-board computation or rapid preliminary mission design analysis. Perturbed formation dynamics are often approximated as linear time-varying (LTV) systems, for which Floquet theory can be used to analyze the degree of system instability. Furthermore, the angular momentum of the relative orbital state can be computed with the approximate dynamics to provide additional insight. A general methodology is developed first and then applied to the problem of unstable formation dynamics in asteroid orbits. Here the dominant perturbative effects due to low-order gravitational harmonics and solar radiation pressure are modeled. Numerical simulations validate the approach and illustrate the approximation accuracy achieved.     

Formation flying reconfiguration manoeuvres via environmental forces in highly elliptical orbits

A study on reconfiguration manoevres applied to a tetrahedral formation in highly elliptical orbits is proposed, by using a propellantless solution. The manoeuvring strategy consists in exploiting certain environmental forces, specifically those provided by solar radiation pressure and atmospheric drag, by actively controlling the satellites’ attitudes. Through inverse dynamics particle swarm optimization the optimal attitudes required for the manoeuvres are evaluated, whereas the configuration’s evolution is simulated by a high-fidelity orbital simulator. The goal of the reconfiguration problem is to find an optimal control in order for the four spacecraft to reach a desired configuration in a specified portion of orbit, where the desired configuration is evaluated by a shape and size geometric parameter. By increasing the manoeuvring time and the satellites’ area to mass ratio, all the case studies considered are successfully verified.     

InfraRed Astronomy Satellite Swarm Interferometry (IRASSI): Overview and study results

The far-infrared (FIR) regime is one of the few wavelength ranges where no astronomical data with sub-arcsecond spatial resolution exist yet. Neither of the medium-term satellite projects like SPICA, Millimetron or OST will resolve this malady. For many research areas, however, information at high spatial and spectral resolution in the FIR, taken from atomic fine-structure lines, from highly excited carbon monoxide (CO) and especially from water lines would open the door for transformative science. These demands call for interferometric concepts. We present here first results of our feasibility study IRASSI (Infrared Astronomy Satellite Swarm Interferometry) for an FIR space interferometer. Extending on the principal concept of the previous study ESPRIT, it features heterodyne interferometry within a swarm of five satellite elements. The satellites can drift in and out within a range of several hundred meters, thereby achieving spatial resolutions of <0.1 arcsec over the whole wavelength range of 1–6 THz. Precise knowledge on the baselines will be ensured by metrology methods employing laser-based optical frequency combs, for which preliminary ground-based tests have been designed by members of our study team. We first give a motivation on how the science requirements translate into operational and design parameters for IRASSI. Our consortium has put much emphasis on the navigational aspects of such a free-flying swarm of satellites operating in relatively close vicinity. We hence present work on the formation geometry, the relative dynamics of the swarm, and aspects of our investigation towards attitude estimation. Furthermore, we discuss issues regarding the real-time capability of the autonomous relative positioning system, which is an important aspect for IRASSI where, due to the large raw data rates expected, the interferometric correlation has to be done onboard, in quasi-real-time. We also address questions regarding the spacecraft architecture and how a first thermomechanical model is used to study the effect of thermal perturbations on the spacecraft. This will have implications for the necessary internal calibration of the local tie between the laser metrology and the phase centres of the science signals and will ultimately affect the accuracy of the baseline estimations.     

三角翼DBD等离子体流动控制研究进展

现代战机采用较多的三角翼，在大迎角绕流时存在前缘涡破裂等气动问题。作为新型主动流动控制技术，等离子体激励频带宽、响应快、结构简单、便于闭环控制，在解决三角翼气动问题上具有潜力。回顾了介质阻挡放电（DBD）等离子体气动激励的基本原理，及其用于三角翼前缘涡控制的研究进展。从来流条件、几何构型、激励参数等方面分析了DBD等离子体激励对流动控制效果的影响规律；结合不同激励频率下流场演化特性，分析了流动控制机理。最后，从理论研究和工程应用的角度，对三角翼前缘涡控制的发展进行总结展望。     

蜻蜓起飞过程飞行特征实验

针对蜻蜓自由起飞过程和准自由起飞过程进行实验观测,采用两个光轴相互垂直的高速摄像机进行拍摄,通过特征点匹配和三维重构方法准确地捕捉了两种起飞过程中蜻蜓身体和翅膀的运动参数,并进行运动特征分析与对比。实验结果表明:蜻蜓在自由起飞过程中采用同步振翅,离地后逐步转换成异步振翅(约110°),最大瞬时竖直加速度可以达到20m/s2;在准自由起飞过程中采用异步振翅(相位差180°),之后相位差逐步降低,最大瞬时竖直加速度为12m/s2;此外发现同步振翅、大攻角下拍及大拍动角有利于升力的产生。      

运输机机翼平面参数快速优化方法

提出了一套机翼平面参数快速优化方法。新方法通过改变优化思路,简化计算模型,合理选择计算方法,有效地提高了优化效率。简要介绍参数优化思想与流程控制,重点阐述优化程序的气动、重量与性能计算模块的算法。以某运输机为算例,优化结果与资料数据吻合,验证了新方法的正确性。     

绳索断裂对二维二次太阳翼展开过程影响分析

为识别二维二次太阳翼关键环节和预示其在轨展开故障模式，开展不同位置绳索断裂失效对太阳翼展开的影响程度分析。采用考虑绳索断裂的绳索联动轮力学模型，建立了适应于不同联动轮半径的联动轮受力模型，提出角度触发约束消除方法，解决了太阳翼第2次展开过程连续仿真问题，建立了太阳翼第2次展开动力学方程，分析了不同位置绳索断裂失效对太阳翼各板展开角度、展开构型和其他绳索张力的影响。分析表明，越靠近星体的绳索联动机构失效对太阳翼展开过程的影响越大，其中连接架上绳索联动机构失效可直接导致二维二次太阳翼在轨展开失败。     

Robust model predictive control for satellite formation keeping with eccentricity/inclination vector separation

This study presents model predictive formation control based on an eccentricity/inclination vector separation strategy. Alternative collision avoidance can be accomplished by using eccentricity/inclination vectors and adding a simple goal function term for optimization process. Real-time control is also achievable with model predictive controller based on convex formulation. Constraint-tightening approach is address as well improve robustness of the controller, and simulation results are presented to verify performance enhancement for the proposed approach.