Sliding Mode Control for an Intelligent Landing Gear Equipped with Magnetorheological Damper

Several uncertainties in the landing environment of an aircraft are not considered, such as the falling speed, ambient temperature, and sensor noise. These uncertainties negatively affect the performance of the controller applied to a landing gear. The sliding mode control (SMC) method, which maintains the optimal performance of a controller under uncertainties, is used in this study. The landing gear is equipped with a magnetorheological damper that changes the yield shear stress according to the applied magnetic field. The applied controller employs a hybrid control combining Skyhook control and force control. The SMC maintains the optimal performance of the hybrid control by minimizing the tracking error of the damper force, even in various landing environments where parameter uncertainties are applied. The effect of SMC is verified through co-simulation results from Simscape and Simulink.