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Interference effects of canard controls on longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of winged body in hypersonic flow
A method of transverse control which makes use of nonlinear formulations is presented. The strategy is utilized to stabilize a vehicle. The vehicle is autonomously guided and takes its control inputs from an optical sensing system. Additionally, the velocity of the vehicle is dictated by a longitudinal controller, which is also discussed.
Using simulation, an improved longitudinal velocity vector control wheel steering mode and an improved electronic display format for an advanced flight system were developed and tested. Guidelines for the development phase were provided by test pilot critique summaries of the previous system. The results include performances from computer generated step column inputs across the full airplane speed and configuration envelope, as well as piloted performance results taken from a reference line tracking task and an approach to landing task conducted under various environmental conditions. The analysis of the results for the reference line tracking and approach to landing tasks indicates clearly detectable improvement in pilot tracking accuracy with a reduction in physical workload. The original objectives of upgrading the longitudinal axis of the velocity vector control wheel steering mode were successfully met when measured against the test pilot critique summaries and the original purpose outlined for this type of augment control mode.
The NASA Langley Research Center has been performing studies to address the feasibility of various single-stage to orbit concepts for use by NASA and the commercial launch industry to provide a lower cost access to space. Some work on the conceptual design of a typical lifting body concept vehicle, designated VentureStar(sup TM) has been conducted in cooperation with the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. This paper will address the results of a preliminary flight controls assessment of this vehicle concept during the atmospheric entry phase of flight. The work includes control analysis from hypersonic flight at the atmospheric entry through supersonic speeds to final approach and landing at subsonic conditions. The requirements of the flight control effectors are determined over the full range of entry vehicle Mach number conditions. The analysis was performed for a typical maximum crossrange entry trajectory utilizing angle of attack to limit entry heating and providing for energy management, and bank angle to modulation of the lift vector to provide downrange and crossrange capability to fly the vehicle to a specified landing site. Sensitivity of the vehicle open and closed loop characteristics to CG location, control surface mixing strategy and wind gusts are included in the results. An alternative control surface mixing strategy utilizing a reverse aileron technique demonstrated a significant reduction in RCS torque and fuel required to perform bank maneuvers during entry. The results of the control analysis revealed challenges for an early vehicle configuration in the areas of hypersonic pitch trim and subsonic longitudinal controllability.
Observational data provided by Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 have revealed that the Saturnian ring system has important effects on the structures of the planetary ionosphere as well as the magnetospheric environment, such as the unexpected rotational modulation of the Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) and the Saturn electrostatic discharge (SED) as discovered by the Voyager planetary radio astronomy experiment. The challenge arises to devise a mechanism which can produce electrodynamic coupling between the ring system and the planetary ionosphere and/or magnetosphere in which the associated SKR and SED radio emissions are subject to longitudinal control. One candidate is the establishment of field-aligned current systems, connecting the rings and the ionosphere with longitudinal variation. Local acceleration processes in the vicinity of the rings are also needed. The interplay between the ring-current systems and the geometry of the dipole field and the rings is discussed, and a description is presented of some of the basic ingredients in the longitudinal modulations of SKR and SED.
A flight investigation of an automatic pitchup control has been conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Langley Research Center. The pitching-moment characteristics of a transonic fighter airplane which was subject to pitchup were altered by driving the stabilizer in accordance with a signal that was a function of a combination of the measured angle of attack and the pitching velocity. An angle-of-attack threshold control was used to preset the angle of attack at which the automatic pitchup-control system would begin to drive the stabilizer. No threshold control as such existed for the pitching-velocity signal. A summing linkage in series with the pilot's longitudinal control allowed the automatic pitchup-control system to drive the stabilizer 13.5 percent of the total stabilizer travel independently of the pilot's control. Tests were made at an altitude of 35,000 feet over a Mach number range of 0.80 to 0.90. Various gearings between the control and the sensing devices were investigated. The automatic system was capable of extending the region of positive stability for the test airplane to angles of attack above the basic-airplane pitchup threshold angle of attack. In most cases a limit-cycle oscillation about the airplane pitch axis occurred.
The longitudinal stability and control characteristics of a 1/30-scale model of the Republic XF-103 airplane were investigated in the Langley 8-foot transonic tunnel. The effect of speed brakes located at the end of the fuselage was also investigated. The main part of the investigation was made with internal flow in the model, but some data were obtained with no internal flow. The longitudinal stability and control at transonic-speeds appeared satisfactory. The transonic drag rise was small. The speed brakes had no adverse effects on longitudinal stability.
A fixed-base simulation study has been made to compare the approach and landing performance of a decoupled longitudinal control system and the velocity-vector control-wheel steering (VCWS) system that currently exists on the NASA Terminal Configured Vehicle (TCV). The decoupled control system employed constant prefilter and feedback gains to provide steady-state decoupling of flight-path angle, pitch angle, and forward velocity using symmetric spoilers, throttle, and elevator as active control elements. In severe wind shear, of the Kennedy-type, the decoupled control system improved both approach performance and touchdown performance even when the spoiler deflection was limited to 16 deg. On a 10-point rating scale, three research pilots rated the approach and landing task with decoupled controls as much as 3 to 4 increments better than the use of the VCWS system in severe winds
The longitudinal equations of motion with wind shear terms were used to analyze the stability and motions of a jet transport. A positive wind shear gives a decreasing head wind or changes a head wind into a tail wind. A negative wind shear gives a decreasing tail wind or changes a tail wind into a head wind. It was found that wind shear had very little effect on the short period mode and that negative wind shear, although it affected the phugoid, did not cause stability problems. On the other hand, it was found that positive wind shear can cause the phugoid to become aperiodic and unstable. In this case, a stability boundary for the phugoid was found that is valid for most aircraft at all flight speeds. Calculations of aircraft motions confirmed the results of the stability analysis. It was found that a flight path control automatic pilot and an airspeed control system provide good control in all types of wind shear. Appendixes give equations of motion that include the effects of downdrafts and updrafts and extend the longitudinal equations of motion for shear to six degrees of freedom.
Longitudinal stability and control of a tilt-wing vtol aircraft model with rigid and flapping propeller blades
Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have increased mortality from chronic inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases. Excess catecholamine exposure contributes to the disease associations of OSA, but the underlying mechanism is unknown. This study tested the hypothesis that increased catecholamine exposure is associated with Enterobacteriaceae abundance in OSA. We compared urinary norepinephrine and the fecal microbiota in 24 patients with OSA and 23 controls. Urinary norepinephrine was elevated in OSA patients, consistent with increased sympathetic activation in those patients. OSA patients did not show changes in the community structure of the microbiome or in Enterobacteriaceae abundance compared to controls. Longitudinal changes in Enterobacteriaceae abundance in OSA patients were significantly associated with within-subject changes in norepinephrine, but this association was absent in controls. These results provide a preliminary association between norepinephrine exposure and Enterobacteriaceae in patients with disordered sleep.
Advanced automatic flare and decrab control laws were developed for future powered lift STOL aircraft using the NASA-C-8A augmentor wing vehicle as the aircraft model. The longitudinal control laws utilize the throttle for flight path control and use the direct lift augmentor flap chokes for flight path augmentation. The elevator is used to control airspeed during the approach phase and to enhance path control during the flare. The forward slip maneuver was selected over the flat decrab technique for runway alignment because it can effectively handle the large crab angles obtained at STOL approach speeds. Performance evaluation of selected system configurations were obtained over the total landing environment. Limitations were defined and critical failure modes assessed. Pilot display concepts are discussed.
At the request of the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, the Langley Pilotless Aircraft Research Division has initiated a program to investigate the general aerodynamic characteristics of the Naval Ordnance Test Station's SIDEWINDER missile. The model used in the flight test presented herein was a full-scale, rocket-propelled test vehicle. This paper presents the results from a flight test investigation using the pulsed-control technique to determine the static and dynamic longitudinal stability and control derivatives and drag data for a canard-missile configuration. The methods for obtaining these data are presented in references 1 and 2. This investigation was conducted at a small angle-of-attack range and for a Mach number range of 1.2 to 2.1. The model used in this investigation was flight-tested at the Langley Pilotless Aircraft Research Station at Wallops Island, Va.
The TCA-2 wind-tunnel test was the second in a series of planned tests utilizing the 5% Technology Concept Airplane (TCA) model. Each of the tests was planned to utilize the unique capabilities of the NASA Langley 14'x22' and the NASA Ames 12' test facilities, in order to assess specific aspects of the high lift and stability and control characteristics of the TCA configuration. However, shortly after the completion of the TCA-1 test, an early projection of the Technology Configuration (TC) identified the need for several significant changes to the baseline TCA configuration. These changes were necessary in order to meet more stringent noise certification levels, as well as, to provide a means to control dynamic structural modes. The projected changes included a change to the outboard wing (increased aspect ratio and lower sweep) and a reconfiguration of the longitudinal control surfaces to include a medium size canard and a reduced horizontal tail. The impact of these proposed changes did not affect the TCA-2 test, because it was specifically planned to address power effects on the empennage and a smaller horizontal tail was in the plan to be tested. However, the focus of future tests was reevaluated and the emphasis was shifted away from assessment of TCA specific configurations to a more general assessment of configurations that encompass the projected design space for the TC.
Static longitudinal stability and control characteristics of wingless missile configuration at supersonic and hypersonic speeds
Effect of longitudinal and lateral controls on winged reentry configuration at mach 1.97 and angles of attack up to 90-degrees
A systematic control design methodology is introduced for multi-input/multi-output systems with multiple saturations. The methodology can be applied to stable and unstable open loop plants with magnitude and/or rate control saturations and to systems in which state limitations are desired. This new methodology is a substantial improvement over previous heuristic single-input/single-output approaches. The idea is to introduce a supervisor loop so that when the references and/or disturbances are sufficiently small, the control system operates linearly as designed. For signals large enough to cause saturations, the control law is modified in such a way to ensure stability and to preserve, to the extent possible, the behavior of the linear control design. Key benefits of this methodology are: the modified compensator never produces saturating control signals, integrators and/or slow dynamics in the compensator never windup, the directional properties of the controls are maintained, and the closed loop system has certain guaranteed stability properties. The advantages of the new design methodology are illustrated by numerous simulations, including the multivariable longitudinal control of modified models of the F-8 (stable) and F-16 (unstable) aircraft.
Low Mach number longitudinal-stability and control characteristics as predicted by use of wind tunnel data from a powered 3/16-scale model are compared with flight test measurements of a Navy BTD-1 airplane. The accuracy of the wind tunnel data and the discrepancies involved in attempting to correlate with flight data are discussed and analyzed. The comparison showed that wind tunnel predictions were, in general, in good agreement with flight test data. The predicted values were for the most part sufficiently accurate to show the satisfactory and unsatisfactory characteristics in the preliminary design stage and to indicate possible methods of improvement. The discrepancies which did occur were attributed principally to physical dissimilarities between model and airplane and the instability to determine accurately the flight power conditions. The effect of Mach number was considered negligible since the maximum flight test value was about 0.5. In order to simulate more closely the flight conditions and hence obtain more accurate data for predictions, it appears desirable to perform large-scale tests of unorthodox control surfaces such as the sealed vaned elevators with which the airplane was equipped.