Preliminary control and stability analysis of a long-range eVTOL aircraft
J.J. Schoser (Student TU Delft)
Michal Cuadrat-Grzybowski (TU Delft - Astrodynamics & Space Missions)
Saullo Giovani Pereira Castro (TU Delft - Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics)
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Abstract
This study proposes a strategy to incorporate control and stability aspects into the preliminarydesign of a tandem-wing, long-range eVTOL aircraft concept. Four operational phases areconsidered: cruise, transition, hover, and ground operation. For cruise, a method to designfor open-loop stability and size aerodynamic control surfaces is presented. Furthermore, acontroller is designed to improve handling qualities. For hover controllability by differentialthrust is considered, and for ground operation, the positioning of the landing gear is performedaccording to clearance and tip-over requirements. A novel analytical model is derived for thetandem wing aircraft in order to estimate during the preliminary design phase the stabilityderivatives of the aerodynamic forces and moments. The transition manoeuvre between verticaland horizontal flight is only treated with qualitative considerations, due to the highly nonlineardynamics involved during this flight phase.