A340 / A330 Control: Flight & Laws

General All control surfaces are electrically controlled and hydraulically activated; the stabiliser and rudder can be mechanically controlled by cable operated servos. The computers are designed to prevent excessive manoeuvres and departure from the safe flight envelope. 5 computers (3 PRIM & 2 SEC) control the aircraft according to 3 control laws: normal, alternate and direct. The 3 PRIM computers provide 1) normal, alternate and direct control laws, 2) speed brake and ground spoiler control and 3) characteristic speed computation. The 2 SEC computers provide 1) direct control laws inc yaw damper function and 2) rudder trim, rudder travel limit and pedal travel limit. PRIM 1 is normally the master and receives sidestick and AP inputs, processes them and sends the instructions to the other 4 computers to drive their related servo controls to execute. 2 Flight Control Data Concentrators collect data from PRIMs and SECs to be sent to EIS and CMC. Surface Control and Actuation Pitch control is through 2 independent elevators and a trimmable hydraulic stabiliser (THS). These surfaces are normally driven by PRIM 1 by the green hydraulic jacks and THS motor 1. If all 3 PRIMs are lost, electrical control of the THS is lost; actuation is available through the manual pitch trim wheel control. 2 electrically controlled hydraulic servo jacks are fitted to each elevator having 3 modes: active in which the jack is positioned is electrically controlled, damping where the jack follows surface movement and centring where the jack is hydraulically maintained neutral. In normal operation, one jack is active, one is damping. If both servo-jacks fail, they default to the centring mode. Some manoeuvres cause the second jack to become active. The stabiliser is actuated by a screw jack driven by 2 hydraulic motors controlled by 1 of 3 electric motors or the mechanical trim wheel. The right elevator uses GRN & YLO hyd, left uses BLU & GRN. The THS uses BLU & YLO. If a failure occurs in PRIM 1, assoc hyd system or hyd jacks, control is transferred to PRIM 2 for the elevator via the BLU and YLO jacks and the THS via motor 2. If both PRIM 1 & 2 are inop, control is transferred to SEC 1 for the elevator and PRIM 3, motor 3 for the THS. If all 3 PRIMs are inop, the elevator is controlled by SEC 1 and electrical control of the THS is lost. Roll control is through 2 ailerons and 5 spoilers. Max aileron deflection is 25 and spoiler deflection is 35. The ailerons are also drooped when flaps are extended. The i/b ailerons are normally controlled by PRIM 1 (left) and PRIM 2 (right). SEC 1 & 2 are also capable of controlling the i/b ailerons. The o/b ailerons are normally controlled by PRIM 3 with SEC 1 & 2 providing back-up. Spoilers 2, 4 & 5 are controlled by the PRIM and 3 & 6 by SEC. Each aileron has 2 electrically controlled hydraulic jacks with 2 control modes: active and damping. Damping is auto-selected in case of hyd low pressure or electrical failure. Above 190kt in CONF 0, the o/b ailerons are controlled to zero deflection. In AP and certain failure modes, the o/b ailerons may be used up to 300kt. When the RAT is extended, the o/b ailerons are controlled in damping mode. Speed brake control is achieved through 6 spoilers per wing. Spoiler #1 is not used for roll or speed brake functions. Extension is inhibited by alpha protection active, MLA active, Vc PROT law active, configuration, at least one thrust lever is above MCT or alpha floor activation. If they were extended they are retracted. The speedbrakes retract with selection of CONF 3, CONF FULL or not at all on LAA-LAD and A346. If 1 surface fails, the symmetrical one is inhibited. The surfaces are auto-retracted to zero when the computer detects a fault or when not electrically controlled. If there is a loss of hyd supply, the surface remains at the existing deflection or less if aerodynamically pushed down. Ground spoiler is achieved by all 6 spoilers. All spoilers auto-extend during a rejected TO above 72kt or at touchdown of both MLG when all thrust levers are set to idle if they are armed or when reverse is selected on at least 2 symmetric / one engines with the other 2 / 1 at idle. Ground spoilers retract when one thrust lever is above idle [1.27.10 p14] or all thrust levers are at forward idle and the speedbrake control lever is pushed down. Yaw control is through 1 rudder surface actuated by 3 independent hydraulic jacks operating in parallel using all 3 hyd systems or through conventional mechanical controls, with hydraulic activation, from the rudder pedals. In flight, yaw damping and turn co-ordination are auto and controlled through a mix of PRIM 1 with PRIM 3 and SECs 1 & 2 as a back-up. A330E Yaw damping and turn co-ordination are PRIM controlled coupled to unique hyd systems. A 2 channel Travel Limitation Unit is controlled by SEC 1. SEC 2 is available as a back-up for AP rudder trim and rudder travel limit computations. If both SECs are inop, max rudder deflection remains at its last known value and max is only available when slats are extended. 31.6 max is available up to 150kt then reduces to 3.5 / 4 gradually. In the case of total hydraulic failure, the rudder travel is damped so the rudder returns to aerodynamic neutral. In case of total electrical power failure or loss of flight computers, the back up yaw damper unit (BYDU) becomes active for yaw damping functions. The BYDU has an electro-mechanical actuator with a yaw sensor powered by 2 dedicated generators powered by BLU & YLO hyd. Rudder trim is through 2 electric motors positioning artificial feel units normally through SEC 1 and motor 1 with SEC 2 and motor 2 in synchro as back-up. A330E after total electrical failure or loss of rudder control due PRIM/SEC fail, the Backup Control Module controls YLO or BLU if YLO inop. THE BCM has its own Backup Power Supply driven by either BLU or YLO hyd. When activated in alternate yaw, there is no turn co-ordination. Lift augmentation is through 2 flap surfaces, 7 slat surfaces and 2 drooped ailerons that are electrically signalled and hydraulically operated. Aileron droop occurs at the moment of flap extension, not lever movement. The Slats and Flaps system comprises, 2 SFCC (each containing 1 flap and 1 slat channel), a PCU consisting of 2 independent motors coupled to a differential gear-box, control surfaces, 2 Asymmetry Position Pick-Off Units (APPUs), flap disconnect detection system, WTBs, Feedback PPUs and an Indication PPU. With one hyd system or one SFCC inoperative, the system runs at half speed. Wing Tip Brakes operate to prevent asymmetry, overspeed or symmetrical runaway. Slat angles of 20/24 / 16/20/23, flap angles of 17/22/26/32 / 8/14/22/32 and 10 / 5 aileron droop is available with the flaps at 1 and 10 droop with flaps > 1. Three odd configurations are available: CONF 1+F is 20 / 16 slat and 17 / 8 flap and is only selectable with airspeed less than 100kt. CONF 1* is 24 / 20 slat and 17 / 8 flap and is available with the lever at 2 when airspeed is greater than 193.5kt (Vfe CONF 2 - 2.5kt). CONF 2* is 23 slat and 14 flap and is available with the lever at 3 when airspeed is greater than 183.5kt (Vfe CONF 3 - 2.5kt). The automatic retraction system retracts the flaps to zero at 200 kt (before Vfe which is 215 kt) when CONF 1+F is set. The PFD displays F and S which are respectively the minimum speed for retracting the flaps and slats. On the approach F is increased by 18 / 14% in CONF 2 and 7 / 4% in CONF 3 (so the aircraft does not fly very slow approaches) and used as a managed target speed. It is limited to Vmcl +10kt and Vfe CONF 4 -2kt. On the approach S is used as the CONF 1 target speed and limited to Vfe CONF 1* - 2kt (203kt). The Flap Load Relief System is only available in CONF 2, 3 or FULL and, when activated, retracts the flaps to the next flap setting if speed exceeds Vfe+2.5kt: as speed decreases to Vfe-2.5kt flaps extend again. The E/WD shows F RELIEF in place of F. The slats alpha/speed lock function inhibits slats retraction at high alpha and/or low speed. If alpha >8.5 or speed <148kt, retraction from CONF 1 to 0 is inhibited and the E/WD shows A LOCK in place of S. The in-flight use of flap/slat is limited to FL200 (3.01.20 p5). The PRIM2 dispatch question Remember when looking at the architecture diagram that each jack has its own PRIM or SEC - the computer

associated with the jack is dedicated to that jack - and in case of failure it reconfigures to the other jack/computer combo (1.27.10 p5). If you lose either SEC/PRIM 2 inop followed by the GRN hydraulics, you now have had a double failure and the ECAM will call the F/CTL Elev Redund Lost checklist to protect you against a third F/CTL system failure. If you are now unlucky enough to lose the other of SEC/PRIM 2 you will be short of control. See 1.27.10 p8/13, note the architecture of the systems and note that with the combination of PRIM2, SEC 2 and GRN failed you only have the left outboard aileron, the THS through PRIM3 and BLU/YLO and 2 spoilers per wing available to control the aircraft. No other triple failure of PRIMs and SECs and hydraulics leads to this dire situation Control Laws Normal law provides 3 axis control, flight envelope protection and manoeuvre load alleviation (MLA). Pitch ground mode is a direct relationship between sidestick deflection and elevator deflection. Roll ground mode deflects both ailerons and spoilers dependent on speed. The THS is set at 5 / 4up. The rotation manoeuvre is flown in direct law with full authority. Once airborne, flight mode is blended in. Pitch air mode is a load factor demand law with auto-trim and full flight envelope protection. Pitch trim is auto in both manual modes and AP in. The auto pitch trim is frozen when a manual trim order exists, RA<100ft, g < 0.5 or in high speed protection. The flare mode is blended in at RA<100ft to give direct law with some damping provided by load factor and pitch rate feedback. Lateral ground mode commands the roll controls through a direct relationship to surface deflection depending on speed. At >60kt, near full pedal deflection with an engine out will cause the opposite outer aileron to deflect down, the opposite inner aileron to deflect up and the opposite outer #6 spoiler to deploy. The flight lateral mode is a demanded roll rate proportional to pilot sidestick deflection up to a max of 15/sec. THS flight protection When alpha protection is active, g > 1.3 or AoB > 33, THS is limited between the setting at protection entry and +2 nose down. The AP orders are limited by the PRIM. If the pilot overcomes the sidestick breakout force the AP disengages. Flare mode occurs at RA=100ft when direct law is blended back in. Load factor protection limits g to +2.5 to -1 clean in or +2 to 0 otherwise. Pitch attitude protection limits attitude to 30 nose up (or 25 at low speed) and 15 nose down: large red arrow heads indicate direction to pitch, at >+25/-13 all the PFD will display is Attitude, IAS, IAS trend, heading, altitude and V/S. High alpha protection becomes active at alpha prot when the elevator control is proportional to sidestick deflection. If the sidestick is released, the alpha returns to and maintains alpha prot. The AP will disconnect if alpha protection is active. At TO alpha prot equals alpha max for 8 / 5 secs. Alpha floor is activated when alpha is greater than a weight dependent threshold or sidestick deflection is above 14 and pitch attitude is greater than 25 or alpha prot is active. Alpha floor is inhibited below 100ft, above 0.53M, (A340) when 2 engines have failed on the same wing or 1 outer / an engine is inop with flaps extended or for an engine failure during a derated TO. Alpha floor is lost when the A/THR is inop. As SRS is only available with slats extended, alpha floor only gives SRS guidance in dirty configs. High speed protection is active, depending on flight conditions, at/above Vmo/Mmo and a pitch up load factor up to +1.75g is added to the pilot input when speed exceeds Vmo+6kt or Mmo+.01. Speed is limited to Vmo+15kt or Mmo+.04 even with full forward stick. If full forward stick is applied suddenly, speed is limited to Vmo+35 or Mmo+.07 and then returns to the above values. The protection is deactivated when the speed returns to V/ Mmo. The AP will disengage if the high-speed protection is active. Low energy warning, with aural "SPEED" x 3, indicate that the aircraft energy is lower than a threshold under which thrust must be added to achieve a positive FPA. It is inhibited by TOGA selection, <100ft RA, >2000ft RA, alpha floor or GPWS active, in either Alternate or Direct laws or if both radar altimeters have failed. Bank angle protection inside the normal flight envelope provides positive spiral stability above 33 AoB whereupon the AoB, on sidestick release, decreases to 33. Up to 33 bank angle is held constant with the sidestick released. Full stick deflection demands a max of 67. Backpressure pitch compensation is required above 33. If alpha protection is operative, the max AoB is limited to 45. If high-speed protection is operative, the spiral stability is introduced from zero and AoB limited to 45, thus the AoB will reduce to zero if the sidestick is released. When the bank angle protection is active, bank angle pitch compensation by the auto trim is inop. If the AoB exceeds 45, the AP will disconnect and the FD bars will be removed. Sideslip target provides a BLU cheese to use to minimise sideslip after an engine failure, to achieve ailerons retracted and spoilers neutral. MLA redistributes lift over the wing to relieve structural loads on the outer wing while maintaining demanded load factor, using spoilers 4-6 and ailerons. The MLA becomes active when the sidestick is pulled less than 8 and load factor is more than 2g. MLA is only available when aircraft speed is above 250kt, flaps are up and normal/alternate law is active. Turbulence damping function damps the structural modes induced by the atmosphere and is available in flight, speed above 200kt, AP engaged or normal law active and the aircraft is within its normal flight envelope. The PRIM computer sends a turbulence damping command, which is added to the normal law command for the elevator and yaw damper. Alternate, Direct & Mechanical Law Alternate 1 Pitch/roll law in ground mode are identical to NL. In flight a load factor demand law similar to NL with limited pitch rate feedbacks and gains dependent on speed and CONF. The flare mode is identical to NL. If the yaw dampers are not available, the yaw damping function is made through the ailerons and BYDU. Lateral control is similar to NL but alterations to Positive Spiral Stability will not occur due to the loss to high speed and alpha protection. AP may be available depending on cause & type of failure. In Alternate Law, Valpha prot and Valpha max are replaced by VSW. Note that VSW is a stall speed and so is EAS sensitive unlike Valpha prot/max. Stick free aircraft aims to control alpha by limited authority stability order to less than VSW. If the stick input forces VSW exceedance, alpha floor activation of TOGA occurs. However, it is possible to stall the aircraft as the protection may be overridden. Above V/Mmo an over-rideable nose up demand is introduced. The VSW symbol disappears but Vmo+4 and Vmo+.006 warnings remain. V/Mmo is reduced to 305/330/.82. Alternate 2 Pitch control laws are identical to Alternate 1. Lateral control law in roll is a direct law with a direct stick to surface position relationship. The gains are automatically set according to slats/flaps CONF. Yaw control law provides a Dutch roll damping function and damper authority is limited to +/4 rudder at CONF 0 and +/-15 in all other CONF. Turn coordination is provided with flat/slat extended. Protections are as in Alternate 1 except that there is no bank angle protection in ALT 2 and in the case of failure of 2 ADRs, no VSW prot and in the case of failure of 3 ADRs, no high speed protection. V/Mmo is reduced to 305/330/.82.

Alternate Law on the ground before start Before engine start the PFD indicates the amber crosses of Alternate Law. Since, inter alia, all 4 engines are "failed", it is reasonable to conclude that the aircraft is in ALT2 [1.27.30p1]. However after ENG1 starts singly, the 4 Eng Out criterion is removed but the aircraft remains in ALT1 because the THS is jammed due to lack of either BLU or YLO hydraulics. At approx 11% N1 on the second engine, BLU hyd comes on line and the aircraft reverts to NORM law. Equally on shut down, ALT1 will occur as YLO hyd fails as ENG3 is shut down, then ALT2 as all 4 engines "fail". Direct Law In pitch direct law, elevator deflection is proportional to stick deflection and, in all configurations, max elevator deflection is a function of CG. This should be a transitory phase prior to PRIM reset and re-acquisition of Alternate Law. There is NO automatic trim (USE MAN PITCH TRIM appears above the AH on the PFD) and NO protections are active. Overspeed and stall warnings are available as in alternate law. The yaw damper provides yaw damping but gives minimal turn co-ordination. V/Mmo is reduced to 305/330/.80. If both RAs fail, when the gear is selected down, the flight control law reverts to Flare Mode so the APs will disconnect as you enter effectively enter Direct Law. Flare Law is pitch law as above with some damping provided by load factor and pitch rate feedback. Roll law is as in normal law with high alpha protection. The USE MAN PITCH TRIM legend appears on the PFD. Mechanical Back Up This is to provide control of the aircraft during temporary complete loss of electrical power. Mechanical pitch control is through the THS using manual trim inputs. Mechanical lateral control is a secondary effect of rudder pedal inputs. The BYDU provides Dutch roll damping. MAN PITCH TRIM ONLY appears above the AH on the PFD. Abnormal Attitude Law Abnormal attitude law is pitch alternate law without protection (except load factor protection) or auto trim. In roll it is direct law with yaw alternate. The law exists if pitch exceeds 50 nose up or 30 nose down, roll exceeds 125, alpha exceeds +30 or -10, speed exceeds 440kt or less than 60kt or Mach exceeds .96 or is less than 0.1. There is no law upgrade after recovery. 1.27.30 p1 PROTECTIONS g Pitch ground Pitch flight Pitch flare Roll - ground Roll - flight Yaw Pitch attitude High alpha High speed Normal clean: +2.5 / -1, flaps: +2.0 / 0 Direct g demand Damped direct Direct as Fn(speed) Roll rate Roll harmonized and direct +30(25) to -15 as text, max AoB=45 Vmo+6/Mmo+.01: adds 1g max, PSS from AoB=0, max AoB=45 <33: roll rate demand >33: positive spiral stability max 67 if g>2 AND sidestick <8, only if IAS>250 and CONF=0 as text as text Alternate 1 Yes Alternate 2 UNoverridable protections are lost Yes Alt 1 Alt 1 Alt 1 Direct Direct Alt: dutch roll Lost Alt 1 unless 2 ADR fail Lost, if VS1g computations fail Alt 1 unless 3 ADR fail Lost, if VS1g computations fail Lost Direct Lost Direct Direct Direct Direct Direct Direct Lost Lost Lost

Normal Normal w ltd Fn(conf) feedback Normal Normal Normal but no PSS Roll harmonized and direct Lost VC prot law Lost, if VS1g computations fail Alt, no symbols

Bank

MLA Turbulence Low energy AP lost

Yes, but no alterations to PSS due to loss of high alpha prot and HSP and no PFD protection marks Yes

Lost

Yes

Lost

AP available

Lost Lost Lost Lost Lost Lost Failure modes leading to Control Law re-configuration and possible effect on the AP THS jam 4 / both engine failure Triple IR failure THS position lost Double IR fault Triple PRIM failure One elevator fault Double ADR fault 2 elevator fault Yaw damper actuator lost 4 / both engine failure & PRIM 1 inop Double RA in APPR Slat/Flap position lost ADR disagree Single ADR fault All spoilers fail All inner ailerons fail Pedals transducer fault

Only in the case the alpha of the remaining ADRs disagrees with the alpha as computed by the PRIMs. c:\\27FTLCTL.doc - created: 12 January 1995 - last saved: 21 December 2008