Management of control channels under actuator failure : an optimization approach

Abstract : In this communication we consider a transportation airplane in the situation in which a main aerodynamic actuator failure occurs while he has either to maintain trim conditions or to perform guidance maneuvers. Depending of the extension and the importance of the failure and considering the redundant effects from other actuators, three cases can be considered: the case in which maneuvers can be performed perfectly, the case in which maneuvers can be performed approximately and the case in which maneuvers cannot be performed anymore. In this paper, the two first cases are tackled. Using dynamic inversion of flight dynamics, the necessary aerodynamic torques to perform a given basic maneuver, are computed. Then an on-line optimization problem whose solution provides the necessary deflection of the available actuators is introduced.