Feasibility of decentralized control architectures for highly coupled flight/propulsion systems

The existence of a stabilizing decentralized control law is addressed particularly for highly coupled airframe/engine systems. The main purpose of this paper is to determine if realistic conditions exist on airframe/engine dynamics such that a stabilizing decentralized control law does not exist, and a centralized control law is necessary in order to stabilize the system. A nominal vehicle model representative of a highly coupled airframe/engine system is presented. A stabilizing decentralized control law exists for the nominal model. Variations in the model required such that no stabilizing decentralized control law exists are found to be large and physically unrealistic. However, for other airframe/engine models, the existence of a stabilizing decentralized control law may be a much more critical issue. This paper gives relationships that must be satisfied in order that a centralized control law be required to stabilize the system