Manoeuvre Load Control (MLC) is a subset of Active Control Technology (ACT), deals with optimal rotation of control surfaces to effectively redistribute the forces and moments on airframe, resulting in structural benefits and performance improvements. The present formulation consists of flight control parameters as design variables; bending and twisting moment at the wing root as conflicting independent multiple objective functions, together with aircraft stability/trim equations as equality constraints and actuator hinge moments as inequality constraints. This work attempts to bridge the gap observed with computational approaches and contemporary flight test programs, by treating MLC problem as multi-objective functions. Several multi-objective optimization methods such as Goal programming method, Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA) and its hybrid form, which is a combination of the above two methods are explored for their capabilities when applied to this real world problem. Another significant development is to optimize the combined load cases such as roll pull up and roll push over manoeuvres which define the structural limit for the wing, rather than conventional treatment with unitary manoeuvres. Results from these multi-objective optimization methods indicates optimal load envelope by at least 10% from the baseline moment values can be realized resulting in improved aircraft performance.
Multi-Objective Optimization Methods Applied for Manoeuvre Load Control on Combat Aircraft wing
P SureshRelated information
1 Aeronautical Development Agency, P.B No: 1718, Vimanapura Post, Bangalore-560017, India
, G RadhakrishnanRelated information1 Aeronautical Development Agency, P.B No: 1718, Vimanapura Post, Bangalore-560017, India
, K ShankarRelated information2 Machine Design Section, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology- Madras, Chennai-600036, India
Published Online: July 29, 2010
Abstract