Adaptive Finite-Time Control for a Flexible Hypersonic Vehicle with Actuator Fault

The problem of robust fault-tolerant tracking control is investigated. Simulation on the longitudinal model of a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle (FAHV) with actuator faults and uncertainties is conducted. In order to guarantee that the velocity and altitude track their desired commands in finite time with the partial loss of actuator effectiveness, an adaptive fault-tolerant control strategy is presented based on practical finite-time sliding mode method. The adaptive update laws are used to estimate the upper bound of uncertainties and the minimum value of actuator efficiency factor. Finally, simulation results show that the proposed control strategy is effective in rejecting uncertainties even in the presence of actuator faults.