Patent ID: 6928340

Claim:
A process for moving a control surface of an aircraft in such a way as to reduce the induced loads to which a stabilizer element of said aircraft is subjected, said control surface being mounted rotatably about an axis so as to be able to take any angular position of deflection within a range of travel and being moved in accordance with a deflection order applied thereto, and maid aircraft comprising a control unit able to determine a first deflection order as a function of at least the actuation of a control member by a pilot of the aircraft, wherein the following series of successive operations is carried out automatically and repetitively: a) a first value is determined, dependent on the maximum load to which said stabilizer element may be subjected; b) a second value is determined, taking into account the actual load to which said stabilizer element is subjected, when said first deflection order determined by said control unit is applied to said control surface; c) said first and second values are intercompared; and d) as a function of this comparison: if said second value is less than or equal to said first value, said first deflection order is applied to said control surface; and if said second value is greater than said first value, a second deflection order is calculated, making it possible to limit the load to which said stabilizer element is subjected to said maximum load, and this second deflection order is applied to said control surface, wherein: said first value corresponds to said maximum load which is predetermined, said second value corresponds to said actual load, and said actual load Mx is determined from the following expression: M ⁢ ⁢ x = - 1 2 · ρ · S · V 2 · ( Z1 · C1 · β ⁢ ⁢ r + Z2 · C2 · δ ⁢ ⁢ r ⁢ ⁢ m ⁢ ⁢ e ⁢ ⁢ s ) in which: ρ is the density of the airs S is the surface area of the stabilizer element; V is the air speed; Z 1 is the lever arm between the center of application of the aerodynamic load due to sideslip and the axis of calculation of the moment; C 1 is a lateral force coefficient, relating to the stabilizer element for the sideslip effect; βr is the sideslip; Z 2 is the lever arm between the center of application of the aerodynamic load due to the deflection of the control surface and the axis of calculation of the moment; C 2 is a lateral force coefficient, relating to the stabilizer element, as a function of the deflection of the control surface; and δrmes is a measured deflection angle.