Preliminary design and characterization of a Flight Control System for a Mach 5 aircraft

The flight control system is an essential part of the aircraft because it allows to maneuver and trim the plane in all flight conditions, and considering this system in the preliminary stages of a project is important, especially in the design of high-speed vehicles. Indeed, in these cases the impact of control surfaces deflections on the aerodynamic performance may be very significant, and the ability to maneuver and trim the aircraft ensuring compliance with adequate stability requirements, is generally more difficult than the case of a conventional subsonic plane, mainly because high-speed vehicles must fly in very different flight regimes through their mission profile. This thesis deals with the preliminary design of the flight control system of a supersonic aircraft. In particular, the concept of vehicle considered is the STRATOFLY MR5 that is a Mach 5 civil passenger aircraft, designed in the sphere of the H2020 MORE&LESS (MDO and Regulations for Low boom and Environmentally Sustainable Supersonic aviation) project, which receives funding from the European Commission. The steps followed in the design of the flight control system are shown in this thesis. Firstly, all control surfaces are geometrically defined, then possible deflections required in some reference trim conditions are estimated in order to evaluate the actuation powers, which allow to have an idea of the actuators necessary on board. At the beginning of this thesis work, few data related to the MR5 concept of vehicle were available, thus some simplifying assumptions are made regarding for example the aerodynamic characteristics, stability, and trim analysis. These are necessary to proceed in the purpose of this thesis that consists in the preliminary characterization of a flight control system for the STRATOFLY MR5.