Novel active control technique of aircraft flaps asymmetry

Abstract

This paper proposes an active monitoring strategy to control aircraft trailing-edge high-lift devices (flaps) asymmetry. A variety of system failures can cause asymmetry in the control surfaces, including the transmission torsion bar break down and control surface actuator wear and tear. The authors’ novel asymmetry active monitoring approach detects and identifies flaps position asymmetry. Once the failure side has been identified, the active control activates the wingtip brakes to stop the uncontrolled flap surface. The still controlled flaps are driven to the damaged surface braking point to reduce flap asymmetry. As a result, the undesired aircraft roll moment (due to flaps asymmetry) will be controlled, and the aircraft maneuverability after failure will be (partially) restored. The proposed asymmetry active monitoring technique has been widely tested in different operational and failure conditions, using wear-free or worn-out actuators and considering every failure side scenario. The behavior of the proposed active model is evaluated in terms of time response and stability margin under certain operating conditions.