Fault tolerant sliding mode control design with piloted simulator evaluation

This paper considers sliding mode allocation schemes for fault tolerant control. The schemes allow redistribution of the control signals to the remaining functioning actuators when a fault or failure occurs. The paper analyzes the schemes and determines conditions under which closed-loop stability is retained for a certain class of faults and failures. It is shown that faults and even certain total actuator failures can be handled directly without reconfiguring the controller. The results obtained from implementing the controllers on a research flight simulator, configured to represent a B747 aircraft, show good performance in both nominal and failure scenarios, even in wind and gust conditions.