Research on the Controller of the Digital Cabin Pressure Regulating System Based

on FIMF

Zhu Lei Fu Yongling Zhao Jingquan

School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering School of Aeronautic Science and Technology
Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Beijing, China Beijing, China
Email:zhulei_buaa@126.com

Abstract –Based on the cabin pressure regulating system experiences [3][4][5][6][7].The organization of this paper is
characters of the nonlinear, larger inertia and time varying as follows: In Section 2, working principle of digital cabin
parameter, the arithmetic of fuzzy immune feedback (FIMF) pressure regulating system was introduced. The mathematical
was proposed to adjust PID control parameters real time and model was built in Section 3. In Section 4, the control strategy
increase response and control capability of pressure loop, and of FIMF was proposed. Simulations are provided in Section 5,
using immune algorithm adjusting pressure loop control
parameters real time which has optimizing performance and
followed by the conclusions in Section 6.
using fuzzy algorithm as operator function. The simulation
results show that cabin pressure and pressure change rate II. WORKING PRINCIPLE
satisfy the rule of environment control system, and the
effectiveness of the new control strategy proposed in this paper The digital cabin pressure regulating systems mainly
was proved. includes cabin pressure controller, selector panel, electric
exhaust valve, cabin, etc (as shown in Figure 1). The cabin
Keywords –cabin pressure control system, fuzzy immune feedback, pressure controller control the pressure and its change rate
environment control system.
inside the cabin through outputting signal to drive the electric
exhaust valve. The outflow of cabin air flow is controlled
I. INTRODUCTION because of the changing of the exhaust valve opening. The
electric exhaust valve is butterfly structure. The actuators
Cabin pressure regulating system is an important part of were installed on the framework, consists of three DC
the air management system of aircraft, the performance of brushless motor, drive control circuit and gear institutions.
which effects the safety of the aircraft structure and the lives
of crew directly. Cabin pressure regulating system should
ensure that the cabin pressure and its rate of change to satisfy
the specification requirement throughout the flight envelope.
From now on, the cabin pressure regulating system has
undergone three development stages: pneumatic type,
electronic- pneumatic type and digital type. In our country,
there are many pure pneumatic aircraft cabin pressure
regulating systems still used in the aircraft, and related
research mainly concentrated on the improvement of
pneumatic structure, less on the digital control [1].
As an advanced cabin pressure regulating system for its
strong adaptability, the digital cabin pressure regulating
system has been widely used in many kinds of aircraft, and its Fig.1. Digital cabin pressure regulating system
core is the digital controller [2].
With the rapid development of intelligent control, such as
the fuzzy control, neural network and expert systems were III. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
used in many systems. The fuzzy control and expert systems
were widely used in many fields because it needn’t the
precise mathematic model and can simulate the human A. Cabin

978-1-4244-5848-6/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE The control object of cabin pressure regulating system is
the cabin pressure and its change rate. Before setting up the

454
cabin pressure differential equations, the following ⎡ 1.43 1.71 ⎤
assumptions were used [10]: ⎢1.43 ⎛ ph ⎞ − 1.71⎛ ph ⎞ ⎥
⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ ⎥
1) The cabin temperature keep constant while pressure ∂GB 0.156 pc ⎢ ⎝ pc ⎠ ⎝ pc ⎠
was adjusted; = μ B FB ⎢ ⎥
∂ph Tc ph ⎢ ⎛ ph ⎞
1.43
⎛ ph ⎞
1.71
⎥
2) The cabin volume keep constant; ⎢ 2 ⎜ ⎟ −⎜ ⎟ ⎥
3) The air in the cabin can be looked as ideal gas, and its ⎢⎣ ⎝ pc ⎠ ⎝ pc ⎠ ⎥⎦
pressure, temperature and volume satisfy the state (6)
equation of ideal gas; This shows that the coefficient of the cabin pressure
4) The leakage area of the cabin is constant; dynamic equations, with different flight, it is desirable to
5) The leakage flow of the cabin is zero. different values.
Based on the assumption, the cabin pressure differential
equations expressed as follows: B. Brushless DC motor
VC dpc
= GK − GB (1)
RTc dτ The dynamic equations of Brushless DC motor are
Where, R is the ideal gas constant, VC is the cabin volume, expressed as follows:
di
Tc is the cabin temperature, GK is the gas flow of cabin, GB is u = e + ia Ra + La a (7)
the flow of the exhaust valve, adiabatic process flow formula dt
can be used to calculate flow, for example : dΩ
Tem = TL + RΩ Ω + J (8)
1.43 1.71 dt
0.156 pc ⎛ ph ⎞ ⎛ ph ⎞
GB = μ B FB ⎜ ⎟ −⎜ ⎟ (2) Where, u  ia  e  Tem are input voltage, armature
Tc ⎝ pc ⎠ ⎝ pc ⎠ current, inductive electromotive force and electromagnetic
Where, μ B is flow coefficient, FB is exhaust valve flow torque respectively, La is armature inductance, Ra is
area, pc is cabin pressure, Tc is cabin temperature, ph is armature resistance, TL is load torque, RΩ is drag coefficient,
atmospheric pressure. Ω is rotor mechanical angular velocity, J is moment of
After equation (1) was linearized at the equilibrium point inertia.
(with subscript 0), the available cabin pressure linearization
C. Gear deceleration machine
equation can be obtained as follows:
VC dδ pc ⎡⎛ ∂GB ⎞ ⎛ ∂Gy ⎞ ⎛ ∂GK ⎞ ⎤ Ω
+ ⎢⎜ ⎟ +⎜ ⎟ −⎜ ⎟ ⎥ δ pc Ω1 = (9)
RTc dτ ⎣⎢⎝ ∂PC ⎠0 ⎝ ∂PC ⎠0 ⎝ ∂Pc ⎠0 ⎥⎦
K
Where, Ω is the mechanical angular velocity of rotor,
⎛ ∂G ⎞ ⎛ ∂G ⎞ ⎛ ∂G ⎞ Ω1 is the mechanical angular velocity of gear deceleration
= ⎜ K ⎟ δ pK + ⎜ K ⎟ ΔTK + ⎜ K ⎟ ΔFK
⎝ ∂PK ⎠0 ⎝ ∂TK ⎠0 ⎝ ∂FK ⎠0 machine output, and K is the reduction ratio of reduction
⎡⎛ ∂G ⎞ ⎛ ∂G y ⎞ ⎤ machine.
⎛ ∂G ⎞
− ⎜ B ⎟ ΔFB − ⎢⎜ B ⎟ + ⎜ ⎟ ⎥ δ ph
⎝ ∂FB ⎠0 ⎣⎢⎝ ∂Ph ⎠0 ⎝ ∂Ph ⎠0 ⎥⎦ D. Butterfly structure exhaust valve
(3)
t
Where:
1.43 1.71
α = α 0 + ∫ Ω1dt
∂GB 0.156 pc ⎛ ph ⎞ ⎛p ⎞ 0
= μB ⎜ ⎟ −⎜ h ⎟ (4) (10)
∂FB Tc ⎝ pc ⎠ ⎝ pc ⎠
FB = FB max (1 − cos α ) (11)
⎡ 1.43 1.71 ⎤
⎢ 0.57 ⎛ ph ⎞ − 0.29 ⎛ ph ⎞ ⎥ Where, FB is exhaust valve flow area, FB max is exhaust
⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ ⎥
∂GB 0.156 ⎢ ⎝ pc ⎠ ⎝ pc ⎠ valve maximum flow area, α is exhaust valve opening, α 0
= μ B FB ⎢ ⎥
∂pc Tc ⎢ ⎛ ph ⎞
1.43
⎛ ph ⎞
1.71
⎥ is exhaust valve initial position.
⎢ 2 ⎜ ⎟ −⎜ ⎟ ⎥
⎢⎣ ⎝ pc ⎠ ⎝ pc ⎠ ⎥⎦ E. Supplement equation
(5)
According to the standard definition of atmosphere, the
relationships between atmospheric pressure changes and
height are [10]:

455
 h ( g / aR ) Where K 2 is restrain gene, the sign is positive. f (⋅) is
PH = P0 (1 − ) , h < 11000 (12)
44330 non-linear function, it introduces reaction function of kill and
(
11000 − h
) wound T cells and era (k − d ) exterior matter.
PH = 22613exp 6340 , h ≥ 11000 (13) The total stimulation of B cells acceptant is
Where, h is the calculated atmospheric height from the S (k ) =T h(k ) −T s(k ) (17)
sea level, a is the average temperature lapse rate, g is The function of B cells come from the integral of S (k ) and
gravity acceleration.
the quantity of kill and wound T cells come from u kill (k ) .
IV. DESIGN OF IMMUNE CONTROL u kill (k ) = K {1 − ηf [Δu kill (k )]}ε (k ) (18)
Where, K = K1 and η = K 2 / K1 , parameter K control the
Biological immune system is necessary defense system for speed of responsion, parameter η has the function of
biology, especially for vertebrate and human. It can protect
stabilization. The performance of immune system is mainly
the body to resist invasion of pathogens, harmful foreign
depending on the selection of these parameters.
body and cancer cells etc. Lymphocytes are the most
important immune system cells which include B cells and T
B. Design of fuzzy immune PID controller
cells mainly. The adjusting process of T cells can be defined
as immune adjusting process of positive feedback and
Conventional PID controller includes the message of past,
negative feedback respectively to identify and remove
present and future of error. The integration of immune
antigens and microbial cells as such an external substance, it
controller and conventional PID controller can improve
is a highly evolved process of biological adjustment process,
system performance effective [9,10].
and the immune system possess the capability of learning,
Considering k as the hits of discrete dynamic system and
memory and pattern recognition by these process [8].
exterior matter quantity as control error, the e(k ) defined as
A. Immune feedback mechanism e( k ) = yd ( k ) − y ( k ) (19)
Where yd (k ) is the anticipant output, y (k ) is the object
The exterior matter quantity of era k is defined as system output.
ε (k ) = γε (k ) − ukill (k − d ) (14) The IM controller is a variable gain P type non-linear
Where γ is the increase gene of exterior matter, u kill (k ) is controller getting by using quantity of u kill (k ) of kill and
the kill and wound quantity of T cells, d is the death time. wound T cells as control input. The IM controller of PID type
After stimulated by exterior matter Th (k ) , the output come K z −1
can be get by replacing K p using K p (1 + i + K d ,
from T cells is defined as z −1 z
T h(k ) = K 1ε (k ) (15) the function is
Where K1 is stimulation gene, the sign is positive. Ki z −1
Consider the restrain T cells forbid the action of other cells is u pid (k ) = K p {1ηf [Δu (k )](1 +
+ Kd e(k ) (20)
z −1 z
used to feedback control, the suppose function of restrain T Where K p is gain coefficient, Ki is integral coefficient,
cells to Ts (k ) of B cells is
K d is differential coefficient, η is restrain coefficient.
T s(k ) = K 2f [Δukill (k )]ε (k ) (16)
The structure of IM controller is shown in figure 2.
_ +
yd (k ) Ki + u (k )
Kp
+ z 1 _
+ +
d 1
z z
Kd ( z 1) _
+
z
u(k )
f()

Fig. 2. Structure of IM controller

The choice of non-linear function f (⋅) has a tremendous characters of pressure loop. Fuzzy control is one of the most
impact to the form and effect of controller. The appropriate commonly used method in intelligent control, it does not
function description can not be given by conventional depend on the mathematical model of control system and not
non-linear function because of time-varying, non-linear sensitive to the changing of system parameters, and has the

456
characters of rapidity and strong robust, so it is suitable for
the requirements of the pressure loop. The immune controller
change to FIM (fuzzy immune) controller which has the
self-tuning function after introduce fuzzy algorithm as
non-linear function after introduce fuzzy controller to
f (⋅) [9].
Since the fuzzy control is built based on rules and logic,
the calculation will be increased caused by excessive amount
of rules, fewer rules for the control of the controller will cause
Table 1. fuzzy rules
rough description. Because immune algorithm has better
optimizing capacity, therefore the simple and effective FIM
controller can be got through establishing appropriate rules of
the fuzzy controller.
According to the character of pressure loop, the control
rules has 49 items is shown in table 1.

e(k)
NB NM NS ZERO PS PM PB
Δe(k)
NB NB NB NM ZERO ZERO PS PM
NM NB NM NS ZERO PS PM PM
NS NB NM NS ZERO PS PM PB
ZERO NB NS NS ZERO PM PB PB
PS NB NS ZERO PS PM PB PB
PM NM ZERO PS PM PB PB PB
PB NM PS PS PB PB PB PB

Supply flow 6000kg/h

V. SIMULATION Cabin leakage area 38cm2
Diameter of exhaust valve 353mm
The model of the digital cabin pressure control system Resolution of pressure sensor 10Pa
was built in simulink(shown in fig3). The reference signal of Resolution of position 0.1degree
the controller is the cabin pressure schedule AUTO which is Gear reduction ratio 1/300
computed under the flight profile BARO. FIMF is realized Maximum speed of motor 5000r/min
through S function of Matlab software. Position Controller is Control period 100ms
the model of brushless DC motor, motor driver control Exhaust valve flow coefficient 0.8
circuit and gear deceleration machine. Cabin_Press is the PID simulation results, see reference [11].
model of cabin. Pressure_Sensor is the model of the pressure The simulation results of cabin pressure and cabin
sensor. The main simulation parameters are shown in table 2. pressure change rate using the FIMF controller are shown in
figure 4 to figure 8.

Fig.4. Flight profile

Fig.3. Control system model in Simulink

Table 2. Simulation parameters

parameter Value
Cabin volume 500m3
Cabin temperature 20

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 Fig.5. Cabin pressure altitude
Fig.6. Stable error
Fig.7. Rate of cabin pressure change
Fig.8. Exhaust valve opening
The simulation performance comparison between the
FIMF control and PID control is shown in Table 3. From
table4, we can see the system performance has greatly
improved by using FIMF controller in the flight profile.
Table 3. Performance comparison of FIMF and PID control
Parameter PID
Pressurization rate (Pa/s) <40
Decompression rate (Pa/s) <60
Stable error(m) <30
VI. CONCLUSION
Simulation results show that the cabin pressure regulating
system performance was greatly improved by using FIMF
controller than simple PID controller in the entire flight
profile, and the steady-state error of cabin pressure less then
30 meters, the cabin pressurization rate less then 20Pa/s, the
decompression rate less then 30.4Pa / s, the electric exhaust
valve motion smoothly. Test results meet the specification
requirement of the environmental control system. The
effectiveness of that the FIMF control of cabin pressure
regulator was proved.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author wishes to thank the IEEE for providing this
template and all colleagues who previously provided
technical support.
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