Local model networks applied to flight loads estimation

Abstract

Nowadays flight load exceedance monitoring is an important task to the aircraft manufacturer as well as the operator. The estimation of flight loads is required during development and operation of an aircraft. The requirements are usually different for e.g. calculation of design loads for certification and operational loads monitoring of stress and fatigue. The ability to (more) precisely determine aircraft operational loads may reduce the time for analysing incidents and maintenance. In this paper the system identification method of Local Model Networks is applied to the field of flight loads estimation for the use in offline-analysis but also for on-board aircraft systems by means of a data recorder storing direct loads indicators like forces and moments from estimates. The application of a previously developed modelling approach for flight loads estimation based on design and flight test data is used to model the loads acting on the horizontal tail plane of an aircraft.