Full mode flight dynamics modelling and control of stopped-rotor UAV

The Stopped-Rotor(SR) UAV combines the advantages of vertical take-off and landing of helicopter and high-speed cruise of fixed-wing aircraft. At the same time, it also has a unique aerodynamic layout, which leads to great differences in the control and aerodynamic characteristics of various flight modes, and brings great challenges to the flight dynamics modelling and control in full-mode flight. In this paper, the flight dynamics modelling and control method of SR UAV in full-mode flight is st...     

Secondary instability of separated shear layers

The process through which a laminar flow undergoes transition to turbulence is of great fundamental and practical interest. Such a process is hugely complex as there are many diverse routes for a laminar flow to become turbulent flow. The transition process is usually initiated by flow instabilities—a primary instability stage followed by a secondary instability stage. This forms a rational framework for the early stage of a transition process and it is crucially important to understand the physics of instabilities leading to turbulence. This article reviews the results of studies on secondary instability of separated shear layers in separation bubbles and summaries the current status of our understanding in this area.     

A novel adaptive coordinated tracking control scheme for a morphing aircraft with telescopic wings

Inspired by flight biology,morphing flight technology has great potential to improve the adaptability and maneuverability of aircraft.This paper is devoted to the flight control problem of morphing aircraft,and aimed at safe and fuel-saving flight through morphing actively.Specifically,the longitudinal dynamics of a morphing aircraft with telescopic wings is modelled as a strictfeedback nonlinear system.Through fitting the expression of aerodynamic parameters by the morphing ratio,the model unce...     

Suzhou Garden

Suzhou has a long history and a great culture. Entering the city, you will think of the ancient cultural ruins in the New Stone Age, which were unearthed on the Chaoxie Mountain.Of the excavated were porcelains, 1,100 pieces of production tools and China's earliest textile equipment, which can date back to 7,000 years ago.Suzhou was already a city with rivers zigzagging downtown areas and riverside housing built in the ancient     

Thermal–structure coupling analysis and multi-objective optimization of motor rotor in MSPMSM

With the high speed, the rotor of magnetically suspended permanent magnet synchronous motor(MSPMSM) suffers great thermal stress and mechanical stress resulting from the temperature rise problem caused by rotor losses, which leads to instability and inefficiency.In this paper, the mechanical–temperature field coupling analysis is conducted to analyze the relationship between the temperature field and structure, and multi-objective optimization of a rotor is performed to improve the design reliability and efficiency. Firstly, the temperature field is calculated by the 2 D finite element model of MSPMSM and the method of applying the 2 D temperature result to the 3 D finite element model of the motor rotor equivalently is proposed. Then the thermal–structure coupling analysis is processed through mathematic method and finite element method(FEM),in which the 3 D finite element model is established precisely in a way and approaches the practical operation state further. Moreover, the impact produced by the temperature and structure on the mechanical strength is analyzed in detail. Finally, the optimization mathematical model of the motor rotor is established with Sequential Quadratic Programming-NLPQL selected in the optimization scheme. Through optimization, the strength of the components in the motor rotor increases obviously and satisfies the design requirement, which to a great extend enhances the service life of the MSPMSM rotor.     

Adaptive path planning for unmanned aerial vehicles based on bi-level programming and variable planning time interval

This paper presents an adaptive path planner for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to adapt a real-time path search procedure to variations and fluctuations of UAVs’ relevant performances, with respect to sensory capability, maneuverability, and flight velocity limit. On the basis of a novel adaptability-involved problem statement, bi-level programming (BLP) and variable planning step techniques are introduced to model the necessary path planning components and then an adaptive path planner is developed for the purpose of adaptation and optimization. Additionally, both probabilistic-risk-based obstacle avoidance and performance limits are described as path search constraints to guarantee path safety and navigability. A discrete-search-based path planning solution, embedded with four optimization strategies, is especially designed for the planner to efficiently generate optimal flight paths in complex operational spaces, within which different surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) are deployed. Simulation results in challenging and stochastic scenarios firstly demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed planner, and then verify its great adaptability and relative stability when planning optimal paths for a UAV with changing or fluctuating performances.     

Development of Kabila rocket: A radioisotope heated thermionic plasma rocket engine

A new type of plasma rocket engine, the Kabila rocket, using a radioisotope heated thermionic heating chamber instead of a conventional combustion chamber or catalyst bed is introduced and it achieves specific impulses similar to the ones of conventional solid and bipropellant rockets. Curium-244 is chosen as a radioisotope heat source and a thermal reductive layer is also used to obtain precise thermionic emissions. The self-sufficiency principle is applied by simultaneously heating up the emitting material with the radioisotope decay heat and by powering the different valves of the plasma rocket engine with the same radioisotope decay heat using a radioisotope thermoelectric generator. This rocket engine is then benchmarked against a 1 N hydrazine thruster configuration operated on one of the Pleiades-HR-1 constellation spacecraft. A maximal specific impulse and power saving of respectively 529 s and 32% are achieved with helium as propellant.Its advantages are its power saving capability, high specific impulses and simultaneous ease of storage and restart. It can however be extremely voluminous and potentially hazardous. The Kabila rocket is found to bring great benefits to the existing spacecraft and further research should optimize its geometric characteristics and investigate the physical principals of its operation.     

Thermodynamic Characteristic Study of a High-temperature Flow-rate Control Valve for Fuel Supply of Scramjet Engines

Thermodynamic characteristics are of great importance for the performance of a high-temperature flow-rate control valve,as high-temperature environment may bring problems,such as blocking of spool and increasing of leakage,to the valve.In this paper,a high-temperature flow-rate control valve,pilot-controlled by a pneumatic servo system is developed to control the fuel supply for scramjet engines.After introducing the construction and working principle,the thermodynamic mathematical models of the valve are built based on the heat transfer methods inside the valve.By using different boundary conditions,different methods of simulations are carried out and compared.The steady-state and transient temperature field distribution inside the valve body are predicted and temperatures at five interested points are measured.By comparing the simulation and experimental results,a reasonable 3D finite element analysis method is suggested to predict the thermodynamic characteristics of the high-temperature flow-rate control valve.     

Remaining useful life estimation for deteriorating systems with time-varying operational conditions and condition-specific failure zones

Dynamic time-varying operational conditions pose great challenge to the estimation of system remaining useful life (RUL) for the deteriorating systems. This paper presents a method based on probabilistic and stochastic approaches to estimate system RUL for periodically moni-tored degradation processes with dynamic time-varying operational conditions and condition-specific failure zones. The method assumes that the degradation rate is influenced by specific oper-ational condition and moreover, the transition between different operational conditions plays the most important role in affecting the degradation process. These operational conditions are assumed to evolve as a discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC). The failure thresholds are also determined by specific operational conditions and described as different failure zones. The 2008 PHM Conference Challenge Data is utilized to illustrate our method, which contains mass sensory signals related to the degradation process of a commercial turbofan engine. The RUL estimation method using the sensor measurements of a single sensor was first developed, and then multiple vital sensors were selected through a particular optimization procedure in order to increase the prediction accuracy. The effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method are presented in a comparison with exist-ing methods for the same dataset.     

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.