The theoretical basis for propulsion control of aircraft

Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PCA) techniques have been investigated for more than ten years. These techniques have been shown to have the capability to prevent some of the worst large aircraft accidents that have occurred in the past 30 years. They have also been shown to have the potential to significantly improve military aircraft survivability to flight control system damage or failures. Despite these promising results there has not been a production implementation of a PCA system on civilian or military aircraft. There appears to be several reasons for this lack of acceptance. First there is not a widespread understanding of PCA theory and the potential benefits in the aerospace community. Second the type certification difficulty and additional cost of a PCA system is perceived to be too great. And finally there are concerns that PCA system and engagement failures might compromise the primary flight control system. This dissertation focuses on the first of these reasons. A comprehensive treatment of the theoretical basis for the control of aircraft with PCA techniques is presented. This includes the development of a detailed PCA state space model, that is analyzed to illustrate the fundamental aircraft characteristics that influence PCA operation. Fundamental PCA control issues are identified and discussed. A modern nonlinear Variable Structure Control System (VSCS) PCA controller design is also examined. The VSCS controller illustrates the design challenges in the PCA problem and provides benefits not found in linear controllers. This controller is applied to a large transport aircraft model and evaluated for robustness to model mismatch and control failures. MATLAB and SIMULINK simulations are presented to illustrate the results. The concluding chapter addresses the other reasons that a PCA system has not been incorporated into a production aircraft design and a PCA concept for an existing production aircraft is presented.