Simulation of High Altitude Long Endurance Platforms Through Global System Identification

Kurzfassung

The identification of dynamic systems, such as the case of an aircraft for control tunning, is a common practice in engineering. Nowadays several flight databases are used to carry it out, wind tunnel data or CFD. However, even involving a great deal of effort both economically and temporally, the validation of the model and therefore the applicability of the model is restricted to the area of the envelope where the flight tests have been gathered. This final bachelor thesis demonstrates how decoupled simulations of flight data from complete maneuvers, both linear and nonlinear, are able to support the local identification of the system, a great help in local system iden- tification (in the data collection area), and how they can greatly reduce the amount of required flight data. On the other hand, a new system identification scheme called global system ientification will be tested. Aerodynamic simulations based on the Vortex Lattice Method are proposed as the first approach in areas where flight data collection is not possible, allowing the extrapolation of the model to that area building correction factors. The validation of the simulations in the local area is carried out using the flight data for two different aircraft, and verification of the proposed scheme for global identification is performed by extrapolation in the known zone i.e. the model identified at a point of the envelope is corrected for another by the simulations (which in this case also exist flight data) and are verified with the flight data. A first approach to modeling, for example at high altitude, is proposed in the development phases of HALE platforms.