Stability Analysis of a Multi-loop Controller Containing Output Feedback Regulators and a Saturation Function for Commercial Aircraft Engines

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

Abstract

An efficient approach to control the engine of a commercial aircraft is the Min-Max multi-loop structure. In this paper, a Min-Max controller with a switching structure containing output feedback regulators and a saturation function on the fuel flow rate is designed for a turbofan engine. In addition to desirable performance, the stability analysis is an important issue in the process of controller design for aero-engines. Because of the switching behavior of the Min-Max approach, the stability of each single loop by itself does not ensure the stability of the whole system. Therefore, a procedure is provided to analyze the stability of the closed loop system. For this purpose, the Min and Max operators and the saturation function are replaced by their nonlinear equivalents and the structure of the control system is converted to the canonical configuration of the Lure’s system. Then, the conditions for asymptotic stability are extracted and using the presented approach, an asymptotic stability proof is achieved for the closed loop system. In a simulation study with the nonlinear model of a turbofan engine, the performance of the designed Min-Max controller in the thrust attainment and limitation management is compared with the Min-Max/SMC technique.

Keywords

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Fluid Mechanics & Aerodynamics
Volume 11, Issue 1 - Serial Number 29
October 2022
Pages 159-172

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History

  • Receive Date: 17 June 2022
  • Revise Date: 17 July 2022
  • Accept Date: 20 August 2022
  • Publish Date: 21 September 2022

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