Title: A novel reconfigurable control method for an aircraft with potential actuator failures

Authors: Xinli Xu; Zhen Jiang; Huosheng Hu

Addresses: School of Mechatronics Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China ' School of Mechatronics Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China ' School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK

Abstract: This paper presents a novel reconfigurable control method for an aircraft with potential actuator failures. A Variable Structure Model Reference Adaptive Control (VS-MRAC) scheme is deployed to counteract the adverse effects when the actuator failure occurs. Combined with exponential reaching law, the convergence rate is improved and the chattering is reduced. This approach ensures that the reference input value can be tracked rapidly and accurately. The safety and stability of the aircraft is much improved during the event of actuator failures. Finally, the simulation results are given to show the effectiveness and performance of the developed method.

Keywords: VS-MRAC; exponential reaching law; convergence rate; reconfigurable control; actuator failure; aircraft safety and stability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2017.088199

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2017 Vol.56 No.3, pp.163 - 171

Received: 01 Dec 2016
Accepted: 16 Jan 2017

Published online: 29 Nov 2017 *

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