Sliding-Mode Propulsion-Control Tests on a Motion Flight Simulator

Abstract

This paper describes a fault tolerant sliding mode control allocation scheme capable of coping with the loss of all control surfaces, resulting from a failure of the hydraulics system, during which time the scheme only utilizes the engines to control the aircraft. The paper presents tests of the scheme implemented on a 6-DOF motion research flight simulator of Delft University of Technology, called SIMONA (acronym for SImulation MOtion and NAvigation) research simulator, using a realistic manoeuvre involving an emergency return to a near landing condition on a runway in response to the failure. The simulator results show that, not only does the controller provide high tracking performance during nominal fault-free conditions, this performance is also maintained after the total loss of all control surfaces. This shows the capability of the proposed sliding mode control allocation scheme to achieve and maintain desired performance levels using only propulsion, by redistributing the control signals to the engines when failures occur.