Adaptive Actuator Failure and Structural Damage Compensation of NASA Generic Transport Model

This paper studies design and evaluation of a multivariable model reference adaptive control (MRAC) scheme for aircraft systems under simultaneous actuator failures and structural damage. A key design condition–system infinite zero structure is investigated for nominal and posthazard aircraft systems and the invariance of this essential condition is concluded under realistic failure and damage conditions. The multivariable model reference adaptive control scheme is developed to ensure stability and asymptotic output tracking for the aircraft in the presence of uncertain actuator failures and structural damage. The developed fault-tolerant control design is evaluated by a high-fidelity nonlinear aircraft model–the NASA generic transport model.