Nonlinear Backstepping Fault-Tolerant Controllers with Extended State Observers for Aircraft Wing Failures

To effectively overcome changes in aircraft aerodynamic and control characteristics caused by wing surface damage, this paper proposes a fault-tolerant control method based on an extended state observer (ESO) to ensure flight mission requirements under wing surface and control surface failures. Firs...

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Main Authors: Yansheng Geng, Bo Wang, Xiaoxiong Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Actuators
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/14/5/206
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author Yansheng Geng
Bo Wang
Xiaoxiong Liu
author_facet Yansheng Geng
Bo Wang
Xiaoxiong Liu
author_sort Yansheng Geng
collection DOAJ
description To effectively overcome changes in aircraft aerodynamic and control characteristics caused by wing surface damage, this paper proposes a fault-tolerant control method based on an extended state observer (ESO) to ensure flight mission requirements under wing surface and control surface failures. First, considering the characteristics and requirements of backstepping control in addressing nonlinear problems, an extended observer is designed to estimate disturbances and uncertainties induced by wing surface failures, and its stability is analyzed by using the Lyapunov method. Next, a backstepping control law for the airflow angle loop is designed based on the extended observer. The serial-chain method is introduced as an allocation algorithm for fault-tolerant flight control in order to compensate for the changes in control efficiency caused by wing surface faults. And stability analysis is conducted by integrating the control characteristics of the aircraft’s airflow angle loop, proving the uniformly bounded stability of the controller. Finally, fault-tolerant control simulations are performed under scenarios of wing damage, elevator damage, and actuator jamming faults. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves excellent control performance during wing surface failures.
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spelling doaj-art-e7ef9f467dc44d73b58b68f23c8ecc0b2025-08-20T03:14:38ZengMDPI AGActuators2076-08252025-04-0114520610.3390/act14050206Nonlinear Backstepping Fault-Tolerant Controllers with Extended State Observers for Aircraft Wing FailuresYansheng Geng0Bo Wang1Xiaoxiong Liu2School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, ChinaSchool of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, ChinaSchool of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, ChinaTo effectively overcome changes in aircraft aerodynamic and control characteristics caused by wing surface damage, this paper proposes a fault-tolerant control method based on an extended state observer (ESO) to ensure flight mission requirements under wing surface and control surface failures. First, considering the characteristics and requirements of backstepping control in addressing nonlinear problems, an extended observer is designed to estimate disturbances and uncertainties induced by wing surface failures, and its stability is analyzed by using the Lyapunov method. Next, a backstepping control law for the airflow angle loop is designed based on the extended observer. The serial-chain method is introduced as an allocation algorithm for fault-tolerant flight control in order to compensate for the changes in control efficiency caused by wing surface faults. And stability analysis is conducted by integrating the control characteristics of the aircraft’s airflow angle loop, proving the uniformly bounded stability of the controller. Finally, fault-tolerant control simulations are performed under scenarios of wing damage, elevator damage, and actuator jamming faults. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves excellent control performance during wing surface failures.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/14/5/206extended state observer (ESO)wing surface failuresfault-tolerant controlbackstepping control
spellingShingle Yansheng Geng
Bo Wang
Xiaoxiong Liu
Nonlinear Backstepping Fault-Tolerant Controllers with Extended State Observers for Aircraft Wing Failures
Actuators
extended state observer (ESO)
wing surface failures
fault-tolerant control
backstepping control
title Nonlinear Backstepping Fault-Tolerant Controllers with Extended State Observers for Aircraft Wing Failures
title_full Nonlinear Backstepping Fault-Tolerant Controllers with Extended State Observers for Aircraft Wing Failures
title_fullStr Nonlinear Backstepping Fault-Tolerant Controllers with Extended State Observers for Aircraft Wing Failures
title_full_unstemmed Nonlinear Backstepping Fault-Tolerant Controllers with Extended State Observers for Aircraft Wing Failures
title_short Nonlinear Backstepping Fault-Tolerant Controllers with Extended State Observers for Aircraft Wing Failures
title_sort nonlinear backstepping fault tolerant controllers with extended state observers for aircraft wing failures
topic extended state observer (ESO)
wing surface failures
fault-tolerant control
backstepping control
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/14/5/206
work_keys_str_mv AT yanshenggeng nonlinearbacksteppingfaulttolerantcontrollerswithextendedstateobserversforaircraftwingfailures
AT bowang nonlinearbacksteppingfaulttolerantcontrollerswithextendedstateobserversforaircraftwingfailures
AT xiaoxiongliu nonlinearbacksteppingfaulttolerantcontrollerswithextendedstateobserversforaircraftwingfailures