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AERODYNAMICS
AIRCRAFT STABILITY
CONTROLS ON AN AIRCRAFT
A classic airplane has three basic
controls:
ailerons, elevator, and rudder.
They are designed to change and control
the moments about the roll, pitch, and
yaw axes.
These control surfaces are flaplike
surfaces that can be deflected back and
forth at the command of the pilot.
Rolling.
The ailerons control the roll or
lateral motion and are
therefore often called the
lateral controls.
Pitching.
The elevator controls pitch or
the longitudinal motion and
thus is often called the
longitudinal control.
Yawing.
The rudder controls yaw or the
directional motion and thus is
called the directional control.
AIRCRAFT STABILITY
AIRCRAFT STABILITY
I)
Aircraft Stability
Definition All planes must possess
stability in varying degrees for safety
and ease of operation. Stability is the
inherent ability of a body after its
equilibrium is disturbed , to develop
forces or moments that tend to
return the body to its original
position.
Static Stability
Static Stability of an aircraft is
defined by the initial tendency to
return to equilibrium conditions
following some disturbance from
equilibrium.
If an object is disturbed from
equilibrium and has tendency to
return to equilibrium, positive static
stability exists.
STATIC STABILITY
Positive static stability
-
STATIC STABILITY
Negative static stability
- when the ball is displaced from the centre, it
moves away from its original position of
equilibrium
STATIC STABILITY
Neutral static stability
When the ball is displaced from the center, it shows
no tendency to roll back to or away from its original
position of equilibrium
Dynamic stability
Dynamic stability refers to how the continuous
motion of a body varies over time.
A body is dynamically stable
if, out of its own accord, it eventually
returns
to and remains at its equilibrium position
over
a period of time.
Dynamic stability only applies if there is positive
static stability
DYNAMIC STABILITY
The graph shows an example of neutral dynamic
stability.
Here we assume there
are no friction forces
acting between the ball
and the surface.
The ball theoretically
oscillates forever after
the initial displacement.
We have undamped
oscillation.
DYNAMIC STABILITY
If there is friction, the motion of the ball damps
out after the initial displacement
When there is damped oscillation the ball is
dynamically stable
An example of
positive dynamic
stability
DYNAMIC STABILITY
If there is another force stronger than friction
acting on the ball, the ball moves further and
further away from the equilibrium.
The ball is dynamically unstable.
An example of negative
dynamic stability
DYNAMIC STABILITY
Another example to illustrate stability. The center
of gravity of the ruler is located at hole no. 4
If the pivot point and the center of gravity are at
the same place, it is neutral static stability. There
is no tendency to return to original position from
displaced position
If the ruler tilts to the
left, it stays in this
position and if it tilts to
the right it stays in that
position
DYNAMIC STABILITY
If the pivot point is below the center of gravity, there is
negative static stability.
When there is a displacement out of the vertical position,
the weight and the moment arm move the ruler away from
the original equilibrium
DYNAMIC STABILITY
If the pivot point is above the center of gravity, there is
positive static stability.
When there is a displacement out of the vertical position,
the weight and the moment arm bring the ruler back to the
original equilibrium position
DYNAMIC STABILITY
The distance between the pivot point and the center of
gravity influences the stability
The longer the distance, the greater the stability
DYNAMIC STABILITY
Here, there are 3 aircraft encountering a
disturbance
The aircraft in the middle
has positive dynamic
stability after the
disturbance.
AIRCRAFT AXIS
The aircraft axes are : longitudinal axis, vertical
axis and the lateral axis
AIRCRAFT AXIS
I.
II.
III.
DIRECTIONAL STABILITY
The directional stability of an aircraft is
the stability around the vertical axis
Directional stability depends on :
I) fin of the aircraft (vertical stabilizer)
II) sweepback of the wing
DIRECTIONAL STABILITY
For an aircraft which has been deflected from it's
flight path, this results in a pressure along the
surface of one side of the aircraft.
lf the turning moment behind the centre of gravity
is greater than the turning moment in front of the
centre of gravity, the aircraft turns back to its
original flight path.
The aircraft is directionally stable.
DIRECTIONAL STABILITY
Some aircraft increase the surface area behind
the centre of gravity to improve the directional
stability.
One method of doing this is with a dorsal fin and
another, keel surface (used on military aircraft
and the old Boeing 707).
Both of these features increase the side forces to
produce positive directional stability.
SWEEPBACK OF A WING
The sweepback of a wing also improves
directional stability.
When the aircraft is deflected from its original
flight path the forward going wing presents a
larger frontal area to the airflow than the other
wing.
The drag on the forward going wing is therefore
greater than on the other wing
This produces a yawing moment which returns
the aircraft to its original flight path.
The forward going wing also produces higher lift.
DIRECTIONAL STABILITY
LATERAL STABILITY
Lateral stability is the stability of the
aircraft around the longitudinal axis.
It is determined by the :
I) angle of attack
II) dihedral angle
III) sweepback angle
EFFECT OF A SWEEPBACK
ANGLE ON LATERAL STABILITY
LATERAL DIRECTIONAL
INTERACTIONS
In reality when an aircraft in free flight is placed
in a side-slip, the lateral response and the
directional response happen together and the
side-slip produces a rolling moment and a yawing
moment.
The complex interaction of the rolling moment
and the yawing moment produces two main
types of aircraft reaction, the spiral dive and the
dutch roll
SPIRAL DIVE
Spiral dive exists when there is a greater effect on the
directional stability than on the lateral stability.
When this aircraft with a large vertical stabilizer is
disturbed from level flight, it begins a slow spiral which
gradually increases to a spiral dive.
SPIRAL DIVE
When there is a side-slip, the strong directional
stability effect tends to turn the nose of the
aircraft into the wind and the relatively weak
dihedral effect cannot restore the aircraft laterally.
The rate of divergence in the spiral motion is
usually so gradual, that the pilot can control the
tendency without difficulty.
DUTCH ROLL
Dutch roll is a lateral - directional oscillation.
The tendency for a dutch roll exists when there
is a greater effect on the lateral stability than
on the directional stability.
When the aircraft is disturbed from it's
directional equilibrium, the forward wing
produces more lift and more drag than the
other wing.
DUTCH ROLL
When the effect of the lift is greater than the effect of the
drag, we get a sideslip in the opposite direction and the
dutch roll cycle is repeated.
This yaw and roll motion of the aircraft is like the
motion of someone 'waltzing on skates.
The dutch roll problem is found on all aircraft with
swept wings.
The dutch roll problem can be partially overcome by
reducing the sweep angle of the wings and by improving
the directional stability.
DUTCH ROLL
The directional stability can be improved by increasing
the size of the vertical stabilizer but this has weight and
drag disadvantages.
Most aircraft use a yaw damping system to improve
directional stability.
This is an automatic system which deflects the rudder,
to give the necessary directional stability.
LONGITUDINAL STABILITY
Longitudinal stability is the stability of the aircraft
around the lateral axis.
It is positive if the aircraft tends to return to
equilibrium, or the trim angle of attack, after it is
displaced by a gust.
The longitudinal stability depends on the angle of
attack and the pitching moment effects of the
horizontal stabilizer and the wing.
LONGITUDINAL STABILITY
The horizontal stabilizer produces downward
forces during level flight.
LONGITUDINAL STABILITY
When a gust hits the lower front part of the
aircraft we get a nose up rotation.
LONGITUDINAL STABILITY
When a gust hits the upper front part of the aircraft,
we get a nose down rotation.
The horizontal stabilizer changes the angle of attack,
the stabilizer force is increased and the aircraft returns
to equilibrium.
LONGITUDINAL STABILITY
A tail-less aircraft or a flying wing flies with a
positive longitudinal stability.
the centre of gravity is the resultant of all aircraft
weights
the centre or lift is the resultant of all lift forces
including the downward forces of the horizontal
stabilizer.