Varying engine thrust for directional control of an aircraft experiencing engine thrust asymmetry

摘要

Technologies are described herein for providing additional yaw control to a multi-engine aircraft experiencing engine thrust asymmetry. A primary flight control system of the aircraft is configured to limit the operational thrust of an operating engine of the aircraft to provide additional yaw control when the aircraft is experiencing thrust asymmetry. The system includes a thrust limit module for calculating the maximum engine thrust limit to be imposed on an operating engine. The maximum engine thrust limit is calculated using inputs corresponding to the sideslip angle and the roll rate of the aircraft. The maximum engine thrust limit is imposed on the operating engine of the aircraft such that the operational thrust generated by the operating engine is limited to the maximum engine thrust limit. By reducing the operational thrust generated by the operating engine, the yawing caused by the thrust asymmetry is likely to be reduced.

主权项

1. A primary flight control system for providing additional yaw control to a multi-engine aircraft experiencing thrust asymmetry, comprising:
a plurality of flight operations sensors; a thrust differential calculator module configured to receive flight operations parameters from the plurality of flight operations sensors, the thrust differential calculator module configured to:
receive an aircraft sideslip input corresponding to the sideslip angle of the aircraft,receive the an aircraft roll input corresponding to at least one of an aircraft roll command and an aircraft roll rate,receive an engine asymmetry signal representing whether the aircraft is experiencing thrust asymmetry, andgenerate a thrust differential from the aircraft sideslip input, the aircraft roll input, and the engine asymmetry signal; a thrust limit module configured to receive the thrust differential and a reference engine thrust and to calculate a maximum engine thrust limit for an operating engine of the aircraft; and an engine operations module configured to detect asymmetric thrust, determine the operating engine of the aircraft to be limited, and to limit the operational thrust of the operating engine of the aircraft according to the maximum engine thrust limit.