On the effect of enforcing stability in model predictive control for gust load alleviation

Gust load alleviation control refers to the task of attenuating loads acting on an aircraft flying through turbulence. Simulation studies have shown that model predictive control based gust load alleviation strategies can lead to significant load reduction. Application of control strategies in airplanes requires guarantees with respect to reliability, safety, as well as stability. We present nominal stability guarantees for predictive gust load alleviation that are based on terminal penalties and that require no terminal constraint. Furthermore, we analyze the influence of the stabilizing terminal penalty on the achievable load reduction. To this end, we draw upon standard gust types and a fully flexible aircraft model with unsteady aerodynamics that is used as simulated reality.