MAE 4242 AIRCRAFT STABILITY & CONTROL

Stick-Fixed Lateral-Directional Dynamics

(Nelson: 5.1-5.4)
Yongki Go

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Pure Rolling Motion (1)
Pure rolling motion is the simplest case of lateral aircraft
motion
Corresponds to the case where the aircraft is free to roll about
its xb axis under constant-speed straight-line horizontal motion
Also free-to-roll wind-tunnel model under constant uniform

yb, yf

xb, xf
zb , z f
Pure Rolling Motion (2)
EOM: L I xx p I xx
Expressed using disturbance about steady condition:
L L0 L
L I xx p

Assuming L f ( p, a ) , L can be expanded using

Taylor series: L L
L p a
p a
L L
EOM becomes: p a
p a
p Lp p L a a
1st order ODE
roll
Pure Rolling Motion (3)
Free motion characteristics can be studied from the
homogeneous equation:
p Lp p 0
Characteristic equation:
1
Characteristic root: s Lp Time constant: r
Lp
Time constant of pure rolling motion depends on roll damping
parameter Lp
t /
Free response: p p0 e r
Typically: r 0

Free pure rolling response: non-oscillatory decaying response

Pure Rolling Motion (4)
Solution for step a (a = ):
L a
p (1 e t / r ) a
Lp
Response to step e:

Example: Pure Roll Response Calculation
When flying at sea level at the speed of 87 m/s, the F104A
has the following roll characteristics:
Lp 1.3 /s L 4.66 /s 2
a

Determine the time constant of the roll motion of the F104A

in the flying condition and its pure roll response to 5o step
change in aileron deflection
1
Solution: Time constant: r
Lp
Roll response to 5o step:
L a
p (1 e t / r ) a
Lp
0.31(1 e t /0.77 ) rad/s
Pure Yawing Motion (1)
Pure yawing motion is the simplest case of directional
aircraft motion
Corresponds to the case where the aircraft is free to yaw about
its CG, which is constrained to straight-line
motion
Also free-to-yaw wind-tunnel model under constant uniform
airflow yb

yf

xb
r
V xf
zb, zf

Pure Yawing Motion (2)
EOM: N I zz r I zz
Expressed using disturbance about steady condition:
N N 0 N
N I zz

Assuming N f ( , r , r ), N can be expanded using

Taylor series: N N N
N r r
r r
Since the motion is constrained about the zb-axis:
r ,
EOM becomes:
N r N N r r
Aerodynamic yaw damping
Pure Yawing Motion (3)
Free motion characteristics can be studied from the
homogeneous equation:
N r N 0
Characteristic equation:
s2 Nr s N 0
Compare this with standard 2nd order characteristic equation:

Nr
n N
2 N
Frequency depends on directional static stability (N)
Damping ratio depends on directional static stability and
aerodynamic yaw damping
Pure Yawing Motion (4)
Free response: (t ) Ket sin( t )
where n n 1 2
Response to step r:
Example: Pure Yawing Motion Characteristics
An aircraft that is constrained to pure-yawing motion has
the following yaw characteristics:
N 4.55 /s 2 N r 0.76 /s N 4.6 /s 2
r

Determine the damping ratio and damped natural

frequency of the motion and describe the free yaw response
of the aircraft
Solution: Homogeneous EOM:
Characteristic equation: s 2 0.76s 4.55 0
By comparing this to the standard form: s 2 2n s n2 0
0.76
n 4.55 2.13 rad/s
2 2.13
Damped natural frequency: n 1 2 2.096 rad/s
Free response: decaying oscillatory motion with frequency
of 2.096 rad/s (stable)
Linearized Lateral-Directional State Equation
Aircrafts linearized lateral-directional EOM in state-space
form:
x Ax Bu x p r u a r
T T

Y Yp Yr g
1 cos 0
u0 u0 u0 u0
A L ( I xz I xx ) N Lp ( I xz I xx ) N p Lr ( I xz I xx ) N r 0


N ( I xz I zz ) L N p ( I xz I zz ) Lp N r ( I xz I zz ) Lr 0
tan 0
0 1 0
0 Y r u0


a
L ( I I ) N a L r ( I xz I xx ) N r
B ()
xz xx
Note: ()


N
a ( I xz I zz ) La N r ( I xz I zz ) L r 1 I xz2 ( I xx I zz )
0 0

Characteristic Equation
The lateral-directional characteristic equation:
det( sI A) 0
s 4 b1s 3 b2 s 2 b3 s b4 0
For typical conventional aircraft, lateral-directional
characteristic equation can be factorized as follows:
( s e1 )( s e2 )( s 2 d1s d 2 ) 0
( s r )( s s )( s 2 2 drdr s dr2 ) 0
Rolling Roll-yaw
motion oscillation

Roll mode Spiral mode Dutch roll mode

Example: B747 Lateral-Directional Modes (1)
B747 aircraft with a mass of 288,660 kg in steady level
flight at 40,000 ft altitude and M = 0.8 (metrics units):
g 9.81 I xx 247 105 I zz 673 105 I xz 212 104
u0 235.9 0 0
Y 13.1573 Yp Yr 0
L 2.9244 Lp 0.4356 Lr 0.4018
N 0.7470 N p 0.0198 N r 0.1327
Y r 1.7188
L a 0.143 L r 0.0729
N a 0.0008 N r 0.4823
Lateral-directional system matrix:
0.0558 0 1 0.0416
2.9966 0.4351 0.4143 0
A
0.8414 0.0061 0.1458 0

0 1 0 0
Example: B747 Lateral-Directional Modes (2)
Longitudinal characteristic equation:
det( sI A) 0
s 4 0.6367 s 3 0.9397 s 2 0.5125s 0.0037 0
( s 0.5633)( s 0.0073)( s 2 0.0662s 0.8979) 0

Roll Mode Spiral Mode Dutch roll mode

Roots: r 0.5633 s 0.0073 dr 0.0331 j 0.9470

r 1 r s 1 s dr 0.948 rad/s
1.7754 s 137.72 s dr 0.035

Time constants of the roll Frequency & damping ratio of

and spiral modes Dutch roll mode
Lateral-Directional Eigenvalue Pattern
Lateral-directional eigenvalue pattern for conventional
aircraft:
Roll Mode
Illustration of roll motion:

Characteristics:
Roll rate (p) is more dominant than yaw rate (r)
Motion is almost pure rolling
Usually aperiodic with small time constant (rolling motion)
Spiral Mode
Illustration of spiral motion:

Characteristics:
Aperiodic changes in heading and direction of travel (involves
changes in , , and r)
Slowly convergent or slightly divergent
Dutch Roll Mode
Illustration of Dutch roll motion:

Characteristics:
Oscillatory motion that is a combination of sideslipping (),
rolling (), and yawing (r) motion
May be lightly or heavily
Lateral-Directional Dynamics Approximations
Just like for the longitudinal case, simpler models can be
developed for the lateral-directional modes
Provides insights on the effects of the aerodynamic
parameters on a particular mode
Useful for the control design work
Allows focus on a particular

Approximation can be done by recognizing that each mode

has dominant sets of states that contribute to the response
Roll: primarily rolling (p) motion; other response is very
small
Spiral: primarily banked turn motions (r and )
Dutch roll: primarily side-slipping () and yawing (r) motions
Roll Approximation
Roll mode can be approximated by single degree-of-freedom
pure rolling motion
a is assumed as the only effective roll control input
Also assume I xz I xx , I xz I zz so I xz I xx 0, I xz I zz 0
EOM reduces to:
p Lp p L a a 1st order system

Characteristic equation: 0=s- Lp Root: s L p

Lp determines the time constant of the roll mode
1
r
Lp
Example: B747 Roll Approximation
For the B747 example:
Lp 0.4356 r 2.2957 s
(Using the full model: r 1.7754 s)
Response comparison:

Roll approximation
describes initial response
well, but not accurate in
steady state
Still useful for
control design purpose
Spiral Approximation (1)
Spiral mode is usually approximated by neglecting rolling
motion ( = p = 0) and sideslip rate ( )
Roll () equation is neglected

r is assumed as the only effective control input

Also assume I xz I xx , I xz I zz so I xz I xx 0 , I xz I zz 0
EOM becomes:
0 L Lr r L r
r

r N N r r N r r

r [( L N r Lr N ) L ]r [( L N r L r N ) L ] r
Spiral Approximation (2)
Characteristic equation:
s ( L N r Lr N ) L 0 Root: s ( L N r Lr N ) L
Time constant of the spiral mode:
L
s
L N r Lr N
Value is usually large
From this approximation, spiral mode is unstable if
( L N r Lr N ) L 0
For aircraft that possesses lateral static stability ( ),
spiral mode is unstable when:
L N r Lr N 0
Example: B747 Spiral Approximation
For the B747 example:
Characteristic equation: s+0.0301=0 s 33.212 s
(Using the full model: s 137.72 s )
Response comparison:

Spiral approximation
predicts the mode
poorly
Avoid if possible
Dutch Roll Approximation (1)
Dutch roll mode can be approximated by assuming the
motion consists solely of sideslip and yaw
Roll equation ( ) is neglected
State equation reduces to: x A dr x B dr u
a
x u
r r
Y Yr
1
A dr u0 u0
N ( I xz I zz ) L N r ( I xz I zz ) Lr

0 Y r u0
B dr
a
N ( I xz I zz ) La Nr ( I xz I zz ) L r
Dutch Roll Approximation (2)
Assume I xz I xx, I xz I zz so I xz I xx 0, I xz I zz 0
Characteristic equation:
det( sI A dr ) 0
s Y u0 1 Yr u0
det 0
N s Nr
Y u0 N r Y N r N Yr u0 N
s
2
s 0
u0 u0
Comparing this equation with:

Y N r N Yr u0 N 1 Y u0 N r
dr dr
u0 2dr u0
Example: B747 Dutch Roll Approximation
For the B747 aircraft in the previous example, using Dutch
roll approximation:
0.0558 1 0 0.0073
A dr
B dr B a
B r
0.8414 0.1458 0.0038 0.4859
Characteristic equation: s 2 0.2016s 0.8495 0
Roots eig( A dr ) 0.1008
_ j 0.9161
dr 0.922 rad/s dr 0.109
(Note that using the full model: dr 0.948 rad/s , dr 0.035)
Dutch roll approximation predicts the frequency
quite well, but does not reflect an accurate damping value
May still be acceptable for use in control design