A pilot model for investigating biodynamic coupling due to aeroservoelastic accelerations

Supersonic Transport Aircraft tend to have slender fuselages with respect to their subsonic counterparts. This design feature leads to increased aeroservoelastic bending at low resonant frequencies closer to the frequencies of pilot commands and the corresponding rigid body accelerations. Aeroelastic accelerations of certain frequencies and phase lags at the pilot station have been seen to involuntarily pass through the pilot's body to the control inceptor. When the pilot commands rigid body accelerations in phase with the structural response, the structural accelerations grow. Thus biodynamic coupling represents the coupling between the feedthrough of pilot station acceleration through the pilot's body, with the pilot control strategy. A pilot model has been constructed to simulate the lateral-directional component of this interaction. The model attempts to break down the biodynamic coupling phenomenon into involuntary biodynamic feedthrough and cognitive commands that include rigid body control strategy and the aeroservoelastic response. The final model will generate maneuvers from predicted pilot control strategy and the resultant biodynamic feedthrough and coupling in the lateral axis when paired with an airplane model incorporating both rigid body and structural accelerations. Utilizing the resulting model, the impact of the phase lag of each integral part of the total system will be studied and shown to drastically impact the overall level of biodynamic coupling.