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Chapter 10 - Stability
Chapter 10 - Stability
ROLL
NORMAL AXIS
PITCH
FIG. 10.1
These axes act at right angles to each other, and all pass through the aircraft's centre of gravity. Stability about the lateral axis (pitch) is known as longitudinal stability. Stability about the longitudinal axis (roll) is known as lateral stability. Stability about the normal axis (yaw) is known as directional stability. Lateral and directional stability are however not entirely
10-1
STATICALLY NEUTRAL
STATICALLY UNSTABLE
FIG. 10.2
The Degree of Stability The different degrees of stability are categorised by how quickly an aircraft tends to return to its trimmed position following a disturbance. To analyse this it is appropriate to again consider the analogy of a ball in a curved container (Fig. 10.3).
10-2
UNDAMPED OSCILLATION
DISPLACEMENT
DAMPED OSCILLATION
TIME
DISPLACEMENT
TIME
DYNAMICALLY STABLE
DIVERGENT OSCILLATION
DISPLACEMENT
DYNAMICALLY NEUTRAL
TIME
DYNAMICALLY UNSTABLE
FIG. 10.4
The time taken for the motion to subside is a measure of the aircraft's dynamic stability. If the oscillations damp out with time the aircraft is dynamically stable, and if the oscillations increase in magnitude the aircraft is dynamically unstable. Finally if the oscillations persist without either increasing or decreasing in magnitude the aircraft has neutral dynamic stability. It is overall desirable for an aircraft to be both statically and dynamically stable. Static Longitudinal Stability This is the aircraft's natural or inbuilt tendency when disturbed in pitch, to return to its former trimmed angle of attack without pilot input, and is desirable throughout the aircraft's complete speed range. Conversely if the aircraft continues to diverge away from its trimmed angle of attack following a disturbance it is said to be statically longitudinally unstable, and if it remains at whatever
10-3
LIFT
CG
GUST
LIFT
FIG. 10.5
10-4
WEIGHT
FIG. 10.6
For this to occur the angle of incidence of the tailplane is usually less than that of the mainplane (Fig. 10.7).
LONGITUDINAL DIHEDRAL ANGLE (+2) MAIN PLANE TAIL PLANE +4 +2
FIG. 10.7
The angle between the chord line of the tailplane and the chord line of the mainplane is known as the longitudinal dihedral angle, and is a practical aspect in most types of aircraft. The actual degree of longitudinal stability is determined by the interaction between an aircraft's centre of gravity, its centre of pressure, and the position of its tailplane. For example consider an aircraft in steady level flight where the angle of attack of the mainplane and tailplane are +6 and -4 respectively (Fig. 10.8).
10-5
LIFT (8 UNITS) LW
CG +6
-4
LT DOWNLOAD (4 UNITS)
8
WEIGHT
CP
FIG. 10.8
In this case wing lift (LW) acts through the centre pressure (C.P) equivalent to 8 units, whilst a download (LT) of 4 units acts on the tailplane and their points of action are 4 and 8 units respectively from the aircraft's centre of gravity. The aircraft will be in a trimmed condition when no out of balance forces exist. This occurs when : L W x 4 = LT x 8 i.e. 8 x 4 = 4 x 8 = 32 units
If an aircraft is suddenly subjected to an upgust it's nose will rise, but at the same time due to it's inertia it will momentarily continue to travel along its original flight path and present itself to the airflow at an increased angle of attack (Fig. 10.9).
LIFT ( 10 UNITS )
4 +8
-2 DOWNLOAD ( 2 UNITS ) 8
UPGUST WEIGHT
FIG. 10.9
This results in an increase in the amount of wing lift to 10 units, and a reduction in the download acting on the tailplane to 2 units), so that the aircraft is no longer in a trimmed condition. For ease of explanation it has also been assumed that even though the angle of attack increases the points
10-6
These figures show that the pitching moment due to the wing increases by 20%, whilst the pitching moment due to the tailplane reduces by 50%, so the aircraft is no longer in a trimmed condition. The combined effect of these changes in pitch moment is to rotate the aircraft back to its former trimmed position, with the tailplane having a greater overall effect than the wing. Factors Affecting Static Longitudinal Stability The degree of longitudinal static stability normally varies depending on the: Position of the Centre of Gravity. Variations in the position of the centre of gravity greatly affect the static longitudinal stability of an aircraft, and generally the further forward the centre of gravity the greater the stability (Fig. 10.10).
FORWARD CG LIFT STABLE
LIFT
A B
FIG. 10.10
Its forward position is limited by the fact that high stability results in poor controllability. This is because stability tends to resist movement away from the aircraft's trimmed attitude, which in turn is reflected in the amount of stick force necessary to displace an aircraft from this position. It follows that the further forward the centre of gravity, the greater the stick force, and the greater the effort required to manoeuvre the aircraft. If the centre of gravity is however positioned too far forward the stick forces will become excessive and will make it extremely tiring to fly the aircraft. The forward position of the centre of gravity is also limited because if it is too far forward, the aircraft will become uncontrollably nose heavy at low airspeeds. This is particularly important in the landing phase when elevator deflection may be insufficient to allow the pilot to flare the aircraft on landing, unless the airspeed is increased to give greater elevator authority.
10-7
NEUTRAL
STABLE
UNSTABLE
NEUTRAL POINT
FIG. 10.11
Any movement aft of this point will make an aircraft statically longitudinally unstable. Most aircraft are designed to be statically longitudinally stable, so the centre of gravity is normally positioned ahead of the neutral point. The distance between the centre of gravity and the neutral point is called the static margin (Fig. 10.12).
STATIC MARGIN
CENTRE OF GRAVITY
NEUTRAL POINT
FIG. 10.12
Position of the Wing's Centre of Pressure. The position of the centre of pressure is a function of it's angle of attack, and moves towards the wing's leading edge with increasing angles of attack, and vice versa. In general the amount of movement of the centre of pressure varies depending on the aerofoil section used, and the greater the camber, the
10-8
LIFT C OF P
PITCH UP DISTURBANCE
FIG. 10.13
Conversely if the centre of pressure moves ahead of the centre of gravity, a nose-up movement will be applied to an aircraft in response to a pitch-up disturbance, and will have a destabilising effect (Fig. 10.14).
UNSTABLE (PITCH UP) MOMENT INCREASED LIFT
LIFT C OF G
C OF P WEIGHT
PITCH UP DISTURBANCE
FIG. 10.14
Design of the tailplane. The overall function of the tailplane is to provide a force to counteract any residual out of balance couples existing between the four main forces. The degree of longitudinal stability is determined by the interaction between the aircraft's centre of gravity, area and the position of its tailplane. Its position relative to the centre of gravity is of most importance, since it has the greatest stabilising effect on the aircraft. This is because the greater the moment arm the greater the stability. If downwash from the wing acts on the tailplane it will also affect the aircraft's degree of stability, by affecting it's angle of attack. Furthermore the tailplane is usually of symmetrical section, and the position of its centre of pressure does not vary much in flight. Wing Down-wash. Any disturbance in pitch will alter the wings angle of attack, and thus the amount of downwash from the wing. This will also alter the angle of attack of the tailplane, e.g. If the aircraft pitches nose-up the downwash angle will be increased and the effective angle of attack of the tailplane will be reduced. The aerodynamic force produced by the tailplane will thus reduce, as will the restoring moment. This is compensated for by moving the C of G forward to increase the moment arm
10-9
PITCHING MOMENT Cm
NOSE-UP
0
NOSE-DOWN
(-)
FIG. 10.15
The graph shows that if the angle of attack increases, e.g. due to a disturbance, a nose-down (-) pitching moment will be created and the aircraft will rotate back to its original trimmed position. Conversely if the angle of attack decreases a nose-up (+) pitching moment will be created. Thus for an aircraft to be statically longitudinally stable, the pitching moment must decrease with increasing angle of attack, i.e. have a negative slope. It is the steepness of the slope, which actually determines the aircraft's degree of stability (Fig. 10.16).
UNSTABLE
+
D
PITCHING MOMENT Cm
NEUTRAL
STABLE
FIG. 10.16
10-10
10-11
NOSE-UP
PITCHING MOMENT Cm
(+)
ELEVATOR DEFLECTION
NOSE-DOWN
20UP
10UP
(-)
0 10DOWN 20DOWN
FIG. 10.17
This is because the angle of attack of the mainplane has been increased and the tailplane will produce a greater nose-up moment due to the change in effective camber. If the aircraft is trimmed to maintain the new pitch attitude (i.e. zero stick forces), and the elevators are allowed to float free, any change in the aircrafts angle of attack will cause the control surfaces to move away from their trimmed position in the direction of the relative airflow. For example an increase in angle of attack will result in the elevators floating upwards, thus reducing the lift force (upload) acting on the tailplane, and reducing the aircrafts static longitudinal stability compared to the stick fixed condition (Fig. 10.18).
+
PITCHING MOMENT Cm
CL
STICK FREE
FIG. 10.18
Control Force Stability
The coefficient of lift (CL) corresponds to a particular airspeed (dynamic pressure) in steady straight and level flight, and thus any variation in airspeed will correspond to a different value of CL in the aircrafts trimmed or equilibrium position (Fig. 10.19)
10-12
UP
ELEVATOR POSITION
EAS
STABLE
DOWN
COLUMN FWD
FIG. 10.19
An aircraft, which demonstrates stick position stability, will require the control column to be moved forwards to reduce the angle of attack and trim at a higher airspeed, and vice versa, i.e. with increasing forward airspeed an increasing forward stick force will have to be applied to maintain steady straight and level flight. Conversely an aircraft, which exhibits stick position instability, will require the control column to be moved aft to trim at a higher airspeed and vice versa. In a manually controlled aircraft the control stick forces are dependent on: Basic stick force stability, where the force is independent of airspeed. The trim tab position, which varies with airspeed.
With increasing EAS less and less nose-up tab is required, and if the aircraft is correctly trimmed, i.e. if positive stick force stability exists, a push force will be required to maintain a new attitude with increasing airspeed and vice-versa (Fig. 10.20).
10-13
FIG 10.20
If the position of the C of G is varied whilst maintaining the same trim airspeed its actual position will have an effect on stick force stability. For example an aft movement of the C of G will reduce the negative slope of the graph, and thus the degree of stick force stability as illustrated in fig 10.21.
FIG. 10.21 This also means that smaller stick forces will be required to displace the aircraft from its original trimmed airspeed. In accordance with JAR 25.173 a minimum gradient for stick force is required for an aircraft to be certified, with the following rules being applicable:-
10-14