Reconfigurable flight control systems

This paper concerns a proposed reconfiguration control scheme for application with a generic fighter aircraft which has eight control surfaces, and whose longitudinal and lateral motions are to be controlled simultaneously. The mathematical model of the aircraft dynamics is presented first, and is followed by a brief description of the aircraft´s closed loop response, obtained using a baseline automatic flight control system (AFCS). The effects upon the dynamic performance of this baseline AFCS of sensor, controller, actuator, and control surface failures, of several different types, are illustrated and discussed, before the effectiveness of an analytical redundancy scheme in countering controller or sensor failures is demonstrated. Some other reconfiguration schemes are briefly discussed, then yet another method, used by the authors, is presented in relation to its effectiveness in achieving the objectives of the reconfiguration