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Lecture 9:
Stability and Control
G. Dimitriadis
Aileron
Elevator
Rudderon
(rudder+aileron)
Elevon
Introduction to Aircraft Design (elevator+aileron)
Other devices
Flaps Airbreak
Spoilers
H Combinations of control surfaces and other devices: flaperons,
spoilerons, decelerons (aileron and airbrake)
H VIntroduction
ectoredto Aircraft
thrust Design
Aircraft degrees of freedom
Six degrees of
freedom:
3 displacements
x: horizontal motion
y: side motion ω
z: vertical motion v
cg
3 rotations
x
x: roll
y: pitch y
z
z: yaw
c
s = b /2
c(y)
y
c /4 cg c /4
lT
lt
c
−s −s
H Wing area
S = bc
H Aspect Ratio
AR = b 2 /S
c /4 cg c /4
lF
lf
LT Lw
ac cg
MT
M0
lT hc
mg
h denotes the cg
c position
h 0c
Cm
1
3
Trim point α
4
1: Very stable
2: Stable
3: Neutrally stable
4: Unstable
H Where
M Lw LT
Cm = , CL w = , CL T =
1 1 1
ρV02 Sc ρV02 S ρV02 ST
2 2 2
H And the tailplane is assumed to be
symmetric so that MT=0
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Pitching moment stability (2)
H For static stability dC m /dCL < 0 or,
approximately, dC m /dCL w < 0
H Then
dCm /dCL = (h − h0 ) − VT dCL /dCL
w T w
H Since M0 is a constant.
H Unfortunately, the derivative of the tail
lift with respect to the wing lift is
unknown
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Wing-tail flow geometry
H The downwash effect of the wing deflects the
free stream flow seen by the tailplane by an
angle ε.
H Total angle of attack of tail: αT=α-ε+ηT
Tailplane Wing
ηT
α αT
V0 α
η Elevator ε V0
Trim tab
βη
H The total lift on the tailplane is given by:
CLT = α 0 + a1α T + a2η + a3βη
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Pitching moment stability (3)
H For small disturbances the downwash
angle is a linear function of wing
incidence α: dε
ε= α
dα
H Wing lift is also a linear function of α:
CL = aα or α = CL /a
w w
H So that
CLw % dε (
αT = '1− * + ηT
a & dα )
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Pitching moment stability (4)
H The tail lift coefficient can then be
written as a1 % dε (
CL T = CL w '1− * + a1ηT + a2η + a3βη
a & dα )
H And the derivative of the pitching
moment coefficient becomes
dCm % a % dε ( dη dβ η (
= (h − h0 ) − VT '' '1−
1
* + a2 + a3 **
dCLw & a & dα ) dCLw dCLw )
H since ηT is a constant
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Controls fixed stability
H Assume that the aircraft has reached
trim position and the controls are locked
H What will happen if there is a small
perturbation to the aircraft’s position
(due to a gust, say)?
H The pitching moment equation becomes
dCm a1 % dε (
= (h − h0 ) − VT '1− *
dCLw a & dα )
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Stability margin
H Define the controls fixed stability margin as
dCm
Kn = −
dCLw
H And the controls fixed neutral point as
a1 % dε (
K n = hn − h, so that hn = h0 + VT '1− *
a & dα )
H A stable aircraft has positive stability margin.
The more positive, the more stable.
H If the cg position (h) is ahead of the neutral
point (hn) the aircraft will by definition be
stable
H Too much stability can be a bad thing!
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Stability margin
H Certification authorities specify that
K n ≥ 0.05
at all times
H Of course, the stability margin can change:
– If fuel is used up
– If payload is released:
H Bombs
H Missiles
H External fuel tanks
H Paratroopers
H Anything else you can dump from a plane
K nc
cg ac
h0c
hc
hn c
hn" c
c
Lsinφ
φ’
v φ
mg y
mg
Steady level flight: L=mg
Lsinφ
φ’
v φ
y
mg
CP
CG
Conclusion: high-wing
aircraft are inherently stable
in roll
CG
CP
mg
The mgsinφ component
causes a destabilising
moment around the
L centre of pressure
CG mgsinφ
CP
φ
Conclusion: low-wing mgcosφ
aircraft are inherently
unstable in roll
Dihedral
reduces stability
Low-wing
aircraft:
Dihedral Γ
increases
stability
y
Lt
-R
Ll>Lt
Γ φ’ v’
φ
v
41
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Roll stability
H For a stable aircraft in roll, dCR/dφ<0.
CR
42
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Aircraft with negative dihedral
43
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Roll Control
H Roll control can be accomplished using
the ailerons
Less lift, less drag
‘Adverse yaw’
δ2
44
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Aileron adverse yaw
H Increasing the lift also increases the
drag and vice versa.
H When deflecting ailerons, there is a net
yawing moment in an opposite direction
to the rolling moment.
– When rolling left (in order to turn left), there
is a yawing moment to the right
– This can make turning very difficult,
especially for high aspect ratio wings
45
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Roll control by spoilers
H Another way of performing roll control is
by deforming a spoiler on the wing
towards which we want to turn. To turn
left: ‘Proverse yaw’
The spoiler
decreases lift and
increases drag.
Now the yawing
moment is in the
same direction as
the roll.
46
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Frise Ailerons
The idea is to counteract the higher lift induced drag of
the down wing with higher profile drag on the up wing.
Frise ailerons are
especially designed to
create very high
profile drag when
deflected upwards.
When deflected
downwards the profile
drag is kept low. Thus,
they alleviate or, even,
eliminate adverse yaw
47
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Differential Aileron Deflection
H The roll rate of the aircraft depends on
the mean aileron deflection angle. The
individual deflections δ1 and δ2 do not
have to be equal.
Differential deflection
means that the up
aileron is deflected by a
lot while the down aileron
is deflected by a little.
48
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Yaw Stability
V β x
x V
cg y
LF
In this case the flow is symmetric; In this case the vertical stabilizer (fin) is at a
There is no net moment around the z axis positive angle of attack. It produces a
Introduction to Aircraft Design stabilizing moment around the z axis
Fin Moment
The lift coefficient of the fin can be
expressed as
CL = c1α F + c 2δ = c1 (−β + σ ) + c 2δ
F
αF
cg Where σ is the sidewash
σ
-β velocity, a local windspeed
V lF component induced by the
LF effect of the fuselage, wing
c /4
N and possibly propellers.
SF lF
HR Cn = CLF VF , where VF =
δ Sc
dδ dδ
H This quantity must be large enough to
maintain zero yaw even at the most extreme
flight conditions.
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Take off and landing (1)
H During cruise, aircraft tend to turn towards
the wind in order to minimize their drag.
Therefore, the objective is to achieve 0o
yaw.
H At take-off and landing this is not possible.
The aircraft must remain aligned with the
runway, even in the presence of a very
strong sidewind.
H Therefore, the rudder must be able to
provide a moment that can keep the
aircraft aligned with the runway.
54
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Take off and landing (2)
β Runway direction β Runway direction
Relative wind, V Relative wind, V
y y
LF LF=0
Undeflected rudder: fin has a sizeable lift Deflected rudder: fin creates 0 lift and 0
causing a moment around the c.g. moment around the c.g.
55
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Roll-Yaw coupling
H Roll and yaw are always coupled.
H There are several reasons for the
coupling:
– Rolling produces sideslip
– Ailerons cause adverse yaw
– Dihedral cases additional coupling
– Wingtip vortices cause additional coupling
– Sweepback causes additional coupling
– The fin causes additional coupling