G.

Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control

Lecture 7 : Flight Equations of Motion
Or the differential equations for a 6 DOF model
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
1.0 Recap - 6 DOF Dynamics Model
For flight dynamics & control, the reference frame is located
at the cg, aligned with the aircraft and moves with it.
Y
b
X
b
Z
b
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
The 6 DOFs correspond to :
translation along the X,Y,Z directions
velocity vector in body axes V= {u,v,w}
rotation about the X,Y, Z axes
angular velocity vector in body axes e = {p,q,r}
Now we need to relate forces and moments to these 6 DOFs
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Denote the forces acting on the aircraft by F = {X,Y,Z}
These forces act at the origin (c.g) of the reference frame
Similarly denote the moments by M
cg
= {l, m, n}
These are the roll, pitch and yaw moments taken wrt the c.g.
Question: So how do we relate the force to the 3 translational
DOFs ?
Answer : F = d(mV)/dt = m {u, v, w} ?
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
2.0 Coriolis theorem
Coriolis Theorem states that the absolute or actual time rate of
change of a vector r = xi + yj + zk where the reference frame ijk
rotates with absolute angular velocity e = pi + q j + rk is :
dr/dt = ( dx/dt i + dy/dt j + dz/dt k ) + e x r
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
2.1 Translational equations of motion
The translational motion is governed by :
c(mV)/ct + e x (mV) =
F
Assuming the mass m is constant over the time interval of
interest, this works out as ...
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
u' + q w r v = X/m
v' + r u p w = Y/m
w' + p v q u = Z/m
Translational equations of motion
Note the nonlinear terms arising from the correction e x (mV)
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Notes:
We can decompose
F = F
aero
+ T + W
i.e.
aero forces F
aero
= {X
aero
, Y
aero
, Z
aero
}
thrust T = {T
x
, T
Y
, T
Z
}
weight W = Mg {-sinu cosu sin| cosu cos| }
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
3.0 Angular momentum and moments
The moments acting on the aircraft may be related to the 3
rotational DOFs by
dH/dt = M
where M is the moment of the forces acting on the aircraft
H is the angular momentum of the aircraft
Question : Wheres the catch ?
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
The relation holds only if both M and H are taken wrt
(a)
or
(b)
The second case holds for our reference frame.
So whats H
cg
for an aircraft ?
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
3.1 Computing the angular momentum H
cg
of an aircraft
Consider a small piece of the aircraft of mass dm located
at r = {x,y,z} wrt the body axes.
X
b
Y
b
Z
b
r
dm
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
The linear momentum of this small mass relative to the cg is
= {p, q, r} x { x, y, z} dm
= {qz - ry, rx - pz, py - qx} dm
dL
cg
= (e x r) dm
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
The angular momentum wrt the cg of this small mass is
= r x (e x r) dm
= { x, y, z} x {qz - ry, rx - pz, py - qx} dm
dH
cg
= r x dL
cg
H
cg
= } { x, y, z} x {qz - ry, rx - pz, py - qx} dm
Finally we sum over the whole aircraft
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Where
} (y
2
+ z
2
)dm - }xy dm - }zx dm
I
cg
= - } xy dm } (z
2
+ x
2
)dm - } yz dm
- } zx dm - } yz } (x
2
+ y
2
)dm
Simplifying the rhs, the aircraft angular momentum is H
cg
= e I
cg
is the moment of inertia matrix.
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
The principal moments of inertia are:
I
xx
= } (y
2
+ z
2
)dm I
yy
= } (z
2
+ x
2
)dm I
zz
= } (x
2
+ y
2
)dm
The crossed moments of inertia are:
I
xy
= } xy dm I
yz
= } yz dm I
zx
= } zx dm
Whats the difference with planar motion of rigid bodies ?
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Ex : Simplifications for symmetric aircraft
Question : Which is the plane of symmetry ?
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
X
Y
Consider I
xy
= } xy dm
For each section along the X axis,
the contribution from the left side
cancels the contribution from the
right.
I
xy
= 0 Is that all ?
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Similarly for I
yz
= } yz dm
Z
Y
For each section along the Z axis,
the contribution from the left side
cancels the contribution from the
right.
I
yz
= 0
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Hence the moment of inertia
matrix simplifies to:
I
xx
0 -I
xz
I
cg
= 0 I
yy
0
-I
xz
0 I
zz
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
3.2 Rotational equations of motion
Now apply Coriolis theorem to dH
cg
/dt = M
cg
where H
cg
= e I
cg
the rotational equations of motion are:
c(e I
cg
)/ct + e x (e I
cg
) = M
cg
Which simplifies ( I
xy
= I
yz
= 0 ) to :
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
I
xx
p + ( I
zz
- I
yy
) qr - I
xz
( r + pq ) = l
I
yy
q + ( I
xx
- I
zz
) pr - I
xz
( r
2
p
2
) = m
I
zz
r + ( I
yy
- I
xx
) pq - I
xz
( p - qr ) = n
Assuming the XZ plane is a plane of symmetry
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Summary : The basic 6 DOF model for symmetric aircraft
u' + q w r v = (X
aero
+T
x
)/m - g sinu
v' + r u p w = (Y
aero
+T
y
)/m + g cosu sin|
w' + p v q u = (Z
aero
+T
z
)/m + g cosu cos|
I
xx
p + ( I
zz
- I
yy
) qr - I
xz
( r + pq ) = l
I
yy
q + ( I
xx
- I
zz
) pr - I
xz
( r
2
p
2
) = m
I
zz
r + ( I
yy
- I
xx
) pq - I
xz
( p - qr ) = n
|' = p + (q sin| + r cos| ) tanu
u' = q cos| - r sin|
' = (q sin| + r cos| ) secu
G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Homework
Assume the thrust vector lies in the
plane of symmetry, act at the c.g.
with an orientation angle c from the
X axis as shown.
x
y
z
thrust
c
u = V
T
cos | coso
v = V
T
sin|
w = V
T
cos| sino
Derive expressions for o, | and V
T

Using the relations:

G. Leng, Flight Dynamics, Stability & Control
Answer : These are the translational EOM in flight path axes