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A novel trajectory planning strategy for aircraft emergency landing using Gauss pseudospectral method

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Abstract

To improve the survivability during an emergency situation, an algorithm for aircraft forced landing trajectory planning is proposed. The method integrates damaged aircraft modelling and trajectory planning into an optimal control framework. In order to deal with the complex aircraft flight dynamics, a solving strategy based on Gauss pseudospetral method (GPM) is presented. A 3-DOF nonlinear mass-point model taking into account the wind is developed to approximate the aircraft flight dynamics after loss of thrust. The solution minimizes the forced landing duration, with respect to the constraints that translate the changed dynamics, flight envelope limitation and operational safety requirements. The GPM is used to convert the trajectory planning problem to a nonlinear programming problem (NLP), which is solved by sequential quadratic programming algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can generate the minimum-time forced landing trajectory in event of engine-out with high efficiency and precision.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Shaohua Meng, Jinwu Xiang & Zhangping Luo

  2. College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha Hunan, 410082, China

    Yiru Ren

  3. College of Air Traffic Management, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin, 300300, China

    Nanjian Zhuang

Authors
  1. Shaohua Meng
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  2. Jinwu Xiang
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  3. Zhangping Luo
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  4. Yiru Ren
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  5. Nanjian Zhuang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhangping Luo.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2011CB707002).

Shaohua MENG is a Ph.D. candidate at School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, China. He received his B.E. degree from Beihang University in 2008. From 2012 to 2013, He was a visiting student in Politecnico di Milano, Italy. His research interests include aircraft dynamics, trajectory optimization and aviation safety.

Jinwu XIANG received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1980 and 1993, respectively. He is currently a professor at School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University. His area of research includes aircraft flight mechanics, structural dynamics and aeroelasticity.

Zhangping LUO received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Beihang University in 1991 and 2004, respectively. He is currently an associate professor at School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University. His research interests include structural dynamics, crashworthiness, aircraft trajectory optimization and aviation safety.

Yiru REN received his B.E. degree from Harbin Engineering University in 2006 and his Ph.D. degree from Beihang University in 2011. Currently, he is a lecturer at College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha. His main research interests are crashworthiness and impact dynamics, structural dynamics, structural and multidisciplinary optimization.

Nanjian ZHUANG received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Beihang University in 2008 and 2014, respectively. He is currently a lecturer at College of Air Traffic Management, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjing. His research interests include aircraft flight mechanics and aviation safety.

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Meng, S., Xiang, J., Luo, Z. et al. A novel trajectory planning strategy for aircraft emergency landing using Gauss pseudospectral method. Control Theory Technol. 12, 393–401 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11768-014-3162-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11768-014-3162-7

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