Adaptive controller for wing flutter with immeasurable excitations and unmodelled dynamics

Abstract

The problem of designing a robust simplified controller for the control of a wing flutter vibration is studied. The adaptive control algorithm developed by Bar-Kana et al. (1983) is extended to include independent excitations to both the input and the output of the plant. Those excitations are partitioned into measurable and unmeasurable parts, and are incorporated into the ideal trajectory and into the adaptive law. The stability of the adaptive law is proved using ultimate bounded-ness results. The 'almost strict positive realness’ property of the plant is examined and related to the minimum phase property, to the output stabilizability, and to the steady-state solution of the Riccati equation. The numerical simulations of the wing flutter control problem demonstrate stability and robustness over a wide range of variations in both the plant and adaptation parameters.