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Support of icing flight tests by near real-time data analysis

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Abstract

Flight testing of aircraft with altered aerodynamic configuration is a safety critical and time consuming task. For the evaluation of the aircraft characteristics under SLD icing conditions, flight tests with artificial ice shapes were performed. These flight tests were supported by online algorithms for the estimation of aerodynamic parameters. Results were available in near real-time onboard the aircraft or already during the debriefing on ground. Pre-flight data from wind tunnel experiments could be confirmed already during the flight using these online analysis tools, thus the flight tests could be performed in shorter time and more safe. This paper will introduce the developed analysis tools and will present results from the flight test campaign.

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Abbreviations

\(a_{x} ,a_{y} ,a_{z}\) :

Translational accelerations along the body axes (m/s2)

\(C_{X} ,C_{Y} ,C_{Z}\) :

Aerodynamic force coefficients in body axes

\(C_{l} ,C_{m} ,C_{n}\) :

Aerodynamic moment coefficients in body axes

\(C_{\text{L}}\) :

Aerodynamic lift coefficient

\(C_{\text{D}}\) :

Aerodynamic drag coefficient

\(I_{xx} , I_{yy} , I_{zz}\) :

Roll, pitch and yaw moments of inertia (kgm2)

\(I_{xz}\) :

Product of inertia (kgm2)

\(l_{\mu }\) :

Mean aerodynamic chord (m)

\(M_{x} , M_{y} , M_{z}\) :

Engine thrust moments in body axes (Nm)

\(m\) :

Total aircraft mass (kg)

\(p, q, r\) :

Roll, pitch and yaw rate (rad/s)

\(\bar{q}\) :

Dynamic pressure (N/m2)

\(s\) :

Half of the wing span (m)

\(S\) :

Reference wing area (m2)

\({\text{sp}}_{\text{avg}}\) :

Average spoiler deflection (rad)

\({\text{sp}}_{\text{diff}}\) :

Differential spoiler deflection (rad)

\(T_{x} , T_{y} ,T_{z}\) :

Engine thrust forces in the body axes (N)

\(t\) :

Time (s)

\(V\) :

Airspeed (m/s)

\(\alpha\) :

Angle of attack (rad)

\(\beta\) :

Angle of sideslip (rad)

\(\phi ,\theta ,\varPsi\) :

Aircraft bank, pitch and heading angle (rad)

\(\eta , \xi ,\zeta\) :

Elevator, aileron and rudder deflection (rad)

\(\zeta_{\text{V}}\) :

Ventral rudder deflection (rad)

\(\sigma\) :

Standard deviation

\(0\) :

Initial or trim value

\({\text{LH}}, {\text{RH}}\) :

Left hand, right hand

\({\text{ref}}\) :

Reference value

\({\text{CG}}\) :

Center of gravity

\({\text{NP}}\) :

Neutral point

\({\text{RP}}\) :

Aerodynamic moment reference point

AOA:

Angle of attack

AOS:

Angle of sideslip

ATRA:

Advanced Technologies Research Aircraft

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

CG:

Center of gravity

DLR:

German Aerospace Center/Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt

FAA:

Federal Aviation Administration

FTI:

Flight test instrumentation

GUI:

Graphical user interface

IAS:

Indicated airspeed

MAC:

Mean aerodynamic chord

N1:

Engine low pressure shaft rotation speed

NP:

Neutral point, aerodynamic center

PID:

Parameter identification

RAPIT:

Rapid aerodynamic parameter identification tool

SLD:

Supercooled large droplets

Sys-ID:

System identification

UDP:

User datagram protocol

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Flight Test Division at EMBRAER for giving the opportunity of being part in the SLD flight test program and the Flight Data Processing Group for helping with the data interface and installations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DLR, Institute of Flight Systems, Lilienthalplatz 7, 38108, Brunswick, Germany

    Christian Raab, Per Ohme & Christoph Deiler

Authors
  1. Christian Raab
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  2. Per Ohme
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  3. Christoph Deiler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian Raab.

Additional information

This paper is based on a presentation at the German Aerospace Congress, September 13–15, 2016, Braunschweig, Germany.

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Raab, C., Ohme, P. & Deiler, C. Support of icing flight tests by near real-time data analysis. CEAS Aeronaut J 8, 561–577 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-017-0260-5

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