A Review of Dynamics Modeling and Control Methods for Distributed Electric Propulsion Aircraft

To address global aviation's energy and environmental challenges, electrification has become a core strategy - with Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) as a pivotal technology for sustainable air transport. DEP aircraft feature multiple electric propulsors distributed along the airframe, offering advantages like boundary layer ingestion (BLI), reduced acoustic noise, and inherent redundancy, while introducing unique challenges: high-dimensional control inputs, strong aero-propulsive coupling, and complex fault-tolerance demands. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in DEP aircraft flight dynamics modeling and control methods. It details DEP-specific flight dynamics modeling (aerodynamic effects, thrust system dynamics, six-degree-of-freedom (6-DoF) nonlinear modeling), identifies core control tasks and DEP-unique control issues, evaluates control strategies (classical, nonlinear, model predictive, adaptive, intelligent learning-based), and concludes with key challenges and future research directions for DEP development.