MAE 4242 AIRCRAFT STABILITY & CONTROL

Stick-Fixed Longitudinal Dynamics

(Nelson: 4.3-4.6)
Yongki Go

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Stick-Fixed Aircraft Response
Stick-fixed aircraft response: motion of aircraft with no
control influence (control variables are set to zero)
Equivalent to free aircraft response
Mathematically, this response is the solution of the
homogeneous equations of motion of the aircraft
Stick-fixed aircraft response is the combination of the
aircrafts
Dynamic stability can be assessed from the stick-fixed
aircraft response characteristics
Determined by the stability of each natural mode of the
aircraft
Pure Pitching Motion (1)
Pure pitching motion is the simplest case of longitudinal
aircraft motion
Corresponds to the case where the aircraft is free to pitch
about its CG, which is constrained to constant-speed straight-
line motion
Also free-to-pitch wind-tunnel model under constant uniform
airflow
yb, yf

xb


xf
zb
zf
Pure Pitching Motion (2)
EOM: M I yy q
Expressed using disturbance about steady condition:
M M 0 M
M I yy

Assuming M f ( , , q, e ) , M can be expanded using

Taylor series:
M M M M
M q e
q e
Since the motion is constrained about the yb-axis:
q,
EOM becomes:
( M q M ) M M e e
Aerodynamic damping
Pure Pitching Motion (3)
Free motion characteristics can be studied from the
homogeneous equation:
( M q M ) M 0
Characteristic equation:
s 2 (M q M )s M 0
Compare this with standard 2nd order characteristic equation:

( M q M )
n M
2 M
Frequency depends on longitudinal static stability
Damping ratio depends on longitudinal static stability and
aerodynamic damping
Pure Pitching Motion (4)
Free response: (t ) Ket sin( t )
where n n 1 2
Response to step e:
Example: Pure Pitching Motion Characteristics
The equation governing the pure pitching motion of an
aircraft model in a wind tunnel is
1.38 36.1 0
Determine the damping ratio and damped natural
frequency of the motion and describe the free response of
the model
Solution:
Characteristic equation:
By comparing this to the standard form: s 2 2n s n2 0
1.38
n 36.1 6 rad/s 0.115
26
Damped natural frequency: n 1 2 rad/s
Free response: decaying oscillatory motion with frequency
of 5.96 rad/s (stable)
Full Linearized Longitudinal EOM
Aircrafts linearized longitudinal EOM in state-space form:
x Ax Bu u e T
T T
x u q
Xu X 0 g cos 0
Z q u0
Zu Z g sin 0
u0 Z u0 Z u0 Z u0 Z
A
M M Zu M Z M ( Z q u0 ) u0 M g sin 0
u u Z M Mq
u0 Z u0 Z u0 Z
0

0 0 1 0
X e X T

Z e ZT
u Z u0 Z

B 0

M Z e M ZT
M e M T
u0 Z u0 Z
0 0
Characteristic Equation
Longitudinal characteristic equation:
det( sI A) 0
s 4 a1s 3 a2 s 2 a3 s a4 0
For typical conventional aircraft, longitudinal characteristic
equation can be factorized as follows:
( s 2 c1s c2 )( s 2 c3 s c4 ) 0
( s 2 2 phph s ph2 )( s 2 2 spsp s sp2 ) 0

Long-period Short-period
oscillation oscillation
( ) ( )

Phugoid mode Short-period mode

Example: B747 Characteristic Modes (1)
B747 aircraft with a mass of 288,660 kg in steady level
flight at 40,000 ft altitude and M = 0.8:
All in metric units (not written)
g 9.81 I yy 449 105 u0 235.9 0 0
X u 0.0069 X 3.2893
Z u 0.0899 Z 73.7952 Z Z q 0
M u 0.0035 M 0.8212 M 0.0894 M q 0.3388
X e 0.00006 X T 2.9430
Z e 5.4714 ZT 0
M e 1.1590 M T 0
Longitudinal system matrix:
0.0069 3.2893 0 9.81
0.0004 0.3128 1 0
A
0.0004 0.7932 0.4282 0

0 0 1 0
Example: B747 Characteristic Modes (2)
Longitudinal characteristic equation:
det( sI A) 0 s 4 0.7499s 3 0.9342s 2 0.0094s 0.0042 0
( s 2 0.0066s 0.0045)( s 2 0.7413s 0.9241) 0

Eigenvalues/
characteristic roots: ph 0.0033 j 0.0670 sp 0.3706 j 0.8870

Frequency & ph 0.067 rad/s sp 0.961 rad/s

damping ratio: sp 0.386
ph 0.049
Longitudinal Eigenvalue Pattern
Longitudinal eigenvalue pattern for conventional aircraft:
Longitudinal Modes
Phugoid and short-period modes description:

Phugoid mode:
Aircraft remains tangent to
the flight path, slow rising
and falling motion,
exchange between

Short-period mode:
Rapid transient, dominated
by of the
aircraft
Longitudinal Response
Example of B747 response to 1o fixed elevator input at M =
0.8
Short-Period Mode
Illustration of short period motion:

Characteristics:
Rapid changes in angle of attack (also pitch angle ) with
nearly constant airspeed
Usually heavily
Phugoid Mode
Illustration of phugoid motion:

Characteristics:
Slow oscillatory changes in pitch attitude , height h and
airspeed u with relatively constant angle of attack
Trade-off between kinetic and potential energy
Usually lightly
Longitudinal Dynamics Approximations
Approximations of the full set aircraft EOM can often be
developed
Simpler mathematical descriptions
Provides insights on the effects of the aerodynamic
parameters on the two modes
Useful for the control design work
Control design can be focused on a particular mode only

For longitudinal motions, approximation can be done by

recognizing that the modes have separate sets of states that
contribute to the response
Short-Period: primarily q and motions; response is very
small
Phugoid: primarily and u motions; response is very small
Short-Period Approximation (1)
Short-period mode can be approximated well by assuming
constant airspeed (u = )
T is not effective in short-period mode and thus
EOM reduces to: x A sp x Bsp e

x
q
Z Z q u0 Z e

u0 Z u0 Z B u Z
A sp 0
M Z M ( Z q u0 ) sp
M Z e
M Mq M e
u0 Z u0 Z u0 Z
Short-Period Approximation (2)
Details of EOM reduction:
Xu X 0 g cos 0
Z q u0
u Zu Z g sin 0 u
u Z u0 Z u0 Z u0 Z


0

q M M Z u M M Z M M ( Z q u0 ) u0 M g sin 0 q
u u0 Z
u0 Z
q
u0 Z u0 Z

0 0 1 0

X e X T

Z e ZT

u Z u Z e

0 0

M Z e M ZT T
M M T
e
u0 Z u0 Z

0 0


Short-Period Approximation (3)
For most aircraft, Z and Z q can be neglected
Characteristic equation:
det( sI Asp ) 0
Z
s 1
u0
det 0
M Z
M u s (M q M )
0
Z M q Z
s M q M
2
s M 0
u0 u0
Compare this equation with:

Z
2
M q Z
sp M sp M q M sp
u0 u0
Example: B747 Short-Period Approximation
For the B747 aircraft in the previous example, using the
short-period approximation:
0.3128 1 0.0232
A sp Bsp
0.7932 0.4282 1.1569
Characteristic equation: s 2 0.7410s 0.9272 0
Eigenvalues/characteristic roots eig( Asp )
Frequency and damping ratio: sp 0.963 rad/s , sp 0.385
(Note that using the full model: sp 0.961 rad/s , sp 0.386 )

The short-period approximation accurately predicts the

frequency and damping ratio of the motion
Phugoid Approximation (1)
Phugoid mode can be approximated by assuming constant
angle of attack ( = )
Pitch rate (q) equation is neglected (effect is more on short
period motion)
EOM reduces to: x A ph x B ph u

u e
x u
T

Xu g cos 0 X e X T

A ph Zu g sin 0 B ph Z e ZT

u0 Z q u0 Z q u Z
u0 Z q
0 q
Phugoid Approximation (2)
Details of EOM reduction:
Xu X 0 g cos 0
Z q u0
u Zu Z g sin 0 u
u Z u0 Z u0 Z u0 Z


0

q M M Z u M Z
M Mq
M ( Z q u0 ) u0 M g sin 0 q
u u0 Z u0 Z u0 Z u0 Z

0 0 1 0

X e X T

Z e ZT

u0 Z u0 Z e

M Z M ZT T
M e M T
e u0 Z u0 Z

0 0


Phugoid Approximation (3)
Neglect Z and Z q ; and consider small 0 ( cos 0 1 )
Characteristic equation:
det( sI A ph ) 0
s X u g
det Z u 0
s
u0
g Zu
s Xus
2
0
u0
Compare this equation with:

g Zu Xu
ph ph
u0 2ph
Example: B747 Phugoid Approximation
For the B747 aircraft in the earlier example, using the
phugoid approximation:
0.0069 9.81 0.0001 2.9430
A ph B ph
0.0004 0 0.0232 0
Characteristic equation: s 2 0.0069s 0.0037 0
Eigenvalues/characteristic roots eig( Asp )
Frequency and damping ratio: ph 0.061 rad/s , ph 0.056
(Note that using the full model: ph 0.067 rad/s, ph 0.049 )

The phugoid approximation predicts the frequency

and damping ratio of the phugoid motion quite well
Effects of Stability Derivatives