Analysis of transition stability for morphing aircraft

The analysis of transition stability for morphing aircraft is based on the two assumptions, one, that the inertial forces due to morphing are negligible, and the aerodynamic forces are dependent solely on the instantaneous configuration of the aircraft. The flight equations can be expressed as a set of parameter-dependent ordinary differential equations, where the parameter is related to the instantaneous shape of the aircraft. Transition stability can be evaluated by determining the limit on the rate of change of the parameter. The first method employed for the stability analysis is similar to control-fixed stability analysis for rigid aircraft in which it is assumed that the control input is continuously varied to its equilibrium value called quasi-fixed control. The second method allows the control input to take an arbitrary functional dependence on the state variables and the extraneous morphing parameters. The analysis of slowly varying systems based on Lyapunov Stability theory which is likely to produce conservative results when applied to the morphing aircraft problem.