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Article
Publication date: 30 January 2007

Altan Kayran

To provide a general review of the flight flutter test techniques utilized in aeroelastic stability flight testing of aircraft, and to highlight the key items involved in flight…

1807

Abstract

Purpose

To provide a general review of the flight flutter test techniques utilized in aeroelastic stability flight testing of aircraft, and to highlight the key items involved in flight flutter testing of aircraft, by emphasizing all the main information processed during the flutter stability verification based on flight test data.

Design/methodology/approach

Flight flutter test requirements are first reviewed by referencing the relevant civil and military specifications. Excitation systems utilized in flight flutter testing are overviewed by stating the relative advantages and disadvantages of each technique. Flight test procedures followed in a typical flutter flight testing is described for different air speed regimes. Modal estimation methods, both in frequency and time domain, used in flutter prediction are surveyed. Most common flight flutter prediction methods are reviewed. Finally, key considerations for successful flight flutter testing are noted by referencing the related literature.

Findings

Online, real time monitoring of flutter stability during flight testing is very crucial, if the flutter character is not known a priori. Techniques such as modal filtering can be used to uncouple response measurements to produce simplified single degree of freedom responses, which could then be analyzed with less sophisticated algorithms that are more able to run in real time. Frequency domain subspace identification methods combined with time‐frequency multiscale wavelet techniques are considered as the most promising modal estimation algorithms to be used in flight flutter testing.

Practical implications

This study gives concise but relevant information on the flight flutter stability verification of aircraft to the practicing engineer. The three important steps used in flight flutter testing; structural excitation, structural response measurement and stability prediction are introduced by presenting different techniques for each of the three important steps. Emphasis has been given to the practical advantages and disadvantages of each technique.

Originality/value

This paper offers a brief practical guide to all key items involved in flight flutter stability verification of aircraft.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 79 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2012

A.S. Roknizadeh, A.S. Nobari, M. Mohagheghi and H. Shahverdi

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the stability of aeroelastic systems using aeroelastic frequency response function (FRF).

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the stability of aeroelastic systems using aeroelastic frequency response function (FRF).

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed technique determines the instability boundary of an aeroelastic system based on condition number (CN) of aeroelastic FRF matrix or directly from FRFs data.

Findings

Stability margins of typical section and hingeless helicopter rotor blade in the subsonic flow regimes (quasi‐steady and unsteady models) are determined using proposed techniques as two case studies.

Originality/value

The paper introduces a technique which is applicable not only when aerodynamic and structure analytical models are available but also when there are experimental models for structure and/or aerodynamics, such as impulse response functions data or FRFs data. In other words, the main advantage of the proposed method, besides its simplicity and low memory requirement, is its ability to utilize experimental data.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 84 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2018

Wojciech Chajec

A low-cost but credible method of low-subsonic flutter analysis based on ground vibration test (GVT) results is presented. The purpose of this paper is a comparison of two methods…

Abstract

Purpose

A low-cost but credible method of low-subsonic flutter analysis based on ground vibration test (GVT) results is presented. The purpose of this paper is a comparison of two methods of immediate flutter problem solution: JG2 – low cost software based on the strip theory in aerodynamics (STA) and V-g method of the flutter problem solution and ZAERO I commercial software with doublet lattice method (DLM) aerodynamic model and G method of the flutter problem solution. In both cases, the same sets of measured normal modes are used.

Design/methodology/approach

Before flutter computation, resonant modes are supplied by some non-measurable but existing modes and processed using the author’s own procedure. For flutter computation, the modes are normalized using the aircraft mass model. The measured mode orthogonalization is possible. The flutter calculation made by means of both methods are performed for the MP-02 Czajka UL aircraft and the Virus SW 121 aircraft of LSA category.

Findings

In most cases, both compared flutter computation results are similar, especially in the case of high aspect wing flutter. The Czajka T-tail flutter analysis using JG2 software is more conservative than the one made by ZAERO, especially in the case of rudder flutter. The differences can be reduced if the proposed rudder effectiveness coefficients are introduced.

Practical implications

The low-cost methods are attractive for flutter analysis of UL and light aircraft. The paper presents the scope of the low-cost JG2 method and its limitations.

Originality/value

In comparison with other works, the measured generalized masses are not used. Additionally, the rudder effectiveness reduction was implemented into the STA. However, Niedbal (1997) introduced corrections of control surface hinge moments, but the present work contains results in comparison with the outcome obtained by means of the more credible software.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 91 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2018

Promio Charles F., Raja Samikkannu, Niranjan K. Sura and Shanwaz Mulla

Ground vibration testing (GVT) results can be used as system parameters for predicting flutter, which is essential for aeroelastic clearance. This paper aims to compute GVT-based…

Abstract

Purpose

Ground vibration testing (GVT) results can be used as system parameters for predicting flutter, which is essential for aeroelastic clearance. This paper aims to compute GVT-based flutter in time domain, using unsteady air loads by matrix polynomial approximations.

Design/methodology/approach

The experimental parameters, namely, frequencies and mode shapes are interpolated to build an equivalent finite element model. The unsteady aerodynamic forces extracted from MSC NASTRAN are approximated using matrix polynomial approximations. The system matrices are condensed to the required shaker location points to build an aeroelastic reduced order state space model in SIMULINK.

Findings

The computed aerodynamic forces are successfully reduced to few input locations (optimal) for flutter simulation on unknown structural system (where stiffness and mass are not known) through a case study. It is demonstrated that GVT data and the computed unsteady aerodynamic forces of a system are adequate to represent its aeroelastic behaviour.

Practical implications

Airforce of every nation continuously upgrades its fleet with advanced weapon systems (stores), which demands aeroelastic flutter clearance. As the original equipment manufacturers does not provide the design data (stiffness and mass) to its customers, a new methodology to build an aeroelastic system of unknown aircraft is devised.

Originality/value

A hybrid approach is proposed, involving GVT data to build an aeroelastic state space system, using rationally approximated air loads (matrix polynomial approximations) computed on a virtual FE model for ground flutter simulation.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 90 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2012

Mahdi Fatehi, Majid Moghaddam and Mohammad Rahim

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel approach in aeroservoelastic analysis and robust control of a wing section with two control surfaces in leading‐edge and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel approach in aeroservoelastic analysis and robust control of a wing section with two control surfaces in leading‐edge and trailing‐edge. The method demonstrates how the number of model uncertainties can affect the flutter margin.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed method effectively incorporates the structural model of a wing section with two degrees of freedom of pitch and plunge with two control surfaces on trailing and leading edges. A quasi‐steady aerodynamics assumption is made for the aerodynamic modeling. Basically, perturbations are considered for the dynamic pressure models and uncertainty parameters are associated with structural stiffness and structural damping and are accounted for in the model by a Linear Fractional Transformation (LFT) model. The control commands are applied to a first and second order electro‐mechanical actuator.

Findings

Dynamic performance of aeroelastic/aeroservoelastic system including time responses, system modal specifications, critical flutter speeds, and stability margins are extracted and compared with each other. Simulation results are validated through experiments and are compared to other existing methods available to the authors. Results of simulations with four structural uncertainties and first order controllers have a good agreement with experimental test results. Furthermore, it is shown that by using a high gain second order controller, the aeroservoelastic (ASE) system does not have any coupling nature in frequency response.

Originality/value

In this study, modeling, simulation, and robust control of a wing section have been investigated utilizing the μ‐Analysis method and the wing flutter phenomenon is predicted in the presence of multiple uncertainties. The proposed approach is an advanced method compared to conventional flutter analysis methods (such as V‐g or p‐k) for calculating stability margin of aeroelastic/aeroservoelastic systems.

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2017

Levent Ünlüsoy and Yavuz Yaman

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of morphing on the aeroelastic behaviour of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) wings to make an emphasis on the required aeroelastic

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of morphing on the aeroelastic behaviour of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) wings to make an emphasis on the required aeroelastic tailoring starting from the conceptual design of the morphing mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, flutter and divergence characteristics of a fully morphing wing design were discussed to show the dilapidating effect of morphing on the related parameters. The morphing wings were intended to achieve a high efficiency at different flight phases; thus, various morphing concepts were integrated into a UAV wing structure. Although it is considered beneficial to have the morphing capabilities to avoid the failure due to a possible wear out in flutter and divergence parameters; it is necessary to include the aeroelastic analyses at the early design phases. This study utilizes a combination of a reduced order structural model and Theodorsen unsteady aerodynamic model as primary analyses tools for flutter and divergence. The analyses were conducted by using an in-house developed pk-algorithm coupled with a commercial finite element analysis (FEA) tool. This approach yielded a fast solution capacity because of the state-space form used.

Findings

Analyses conducted showed that transition between take-off, climb, cruise and loiter phases yield a change in the flutter and divergence speeds as high as 138 and 305 per cent, respectively.

Practical implications

The research showed that an extensive aeroelastic investigation was required for morphing wing designs to achieve a failure safe design.

Originality/value

The research intends to highlight the possible deteriorating effects on structural design of morphing UAV wings by focusing on the aeroelastic characteristics. In addition to that, fundamental morphing concepts are compared in terms of the order of magnitude of their deteriorating effects.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 89 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2022

Dongfeng Li, Zhengzhong Wang, Andrea Da Ronch and Gang Chen

This paper aims to develop an efficient evaluation method to more intuitively and effectively investigate the influence of the wing fuel mass variations because of fuel burn on…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop an efficient evaluation method to more intuitively and effectively investigate the influence of the wing fuel mass variations because of fuel burn on transonic aeroelasticity.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed efficient aeroelastic evaluation method is developed by extending the standard computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based proper orthogonal decomposition (POD)/reduced order model (ROM).

Findings

The results of this paper show that the proposed aeroelastic efficient evaluation method can accurately and efficiently predict the aeroelastic response and flutter boundary when the wing fuel mass vary because of fuel burn. It also shows that the wing fuel mass variations have a significant effect on transonic aeroelasticity; the flutter speed increases as the wing fuel mass decreases. Without rebuilding an expensive, time-consuming CFD-based POD/ROM for each wing fuel mass variation, the computational cost of the proposed method is reduced obviously. It also shows that the computational efficiency improvement grows linearly with the number of model cases.

Practical implications

The paper presents a potentially powerful tool to more intuitively and effectively investigate the influence of the wing fuel mass variation on transonic aeroelasticity, and the results form a theoretical and methodological basis for further research.

Originality/value

The proposed evaluation method makes it a reality to apply the efficient standard CFD-based POD/ROM to investigate the influence of the wing fuel mass variation because of fuel burn on transonic aeroelasticity. The proposed efficient aeroelastic evaluation method, therefore, is ideally suited to deal with the investigation of the influence of wing fuel mass variations on transonic aeroelasticity and may have the potential to reduce the overall cost of aircraft design.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 94 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2018

Franciszek Dul

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the active suppression of the nonlinear aeroelastic vibrations of ailerons caused by freeplay by robust H and linear quadratic Gauss (LQG…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the active suppression of the nonlinear aeroelastic vibrations of ailerons caused by freeplay by robust H and linear quadratic Gauss (LQG) methods of control in case of incomplete measurements of the state of the system.

Design/methodology/approach

The flexible wing with nonlinear aileron with freeplay is treated as a plant-controller system with H and LQG controllers used to suppress the aeroelastic vibrations. The simulation approach was used for analyzing the impact of completeness of measurements on the efficiency and robustness of the controllers.

Findings

The analysis shows that the H method can be effectively used for suppression of nonlinear aeroelastic vibrations of aileron, although its efficiency depends essentially on completeness and types of measurements. The LQG method is less effective, but it is also able to prevent aileron vibrations by reducing their amplitudes to acceptable, safe level.

Research limitations/implications

Only numerical analysis was carried out for the problem described; thus, the proposed solution is of theoretical value at this stage of analysis, and its application to the real suppression of aeroelastic vibrations requires further research.

Practical implications

The work presents a potentially useful solution to the problem of interest and results are a theoretical basis for further research.

Social implications

This work may lead to a hot debate on the advantages and drawbacks of the active suppression of vibrations in the aeroelasticians community.

Originality/value

The work raises the important questions of practical stabilizability of the nonlinear aeroelastic systems, their dependence on completeness and types of measurements and robustness of the controllers.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 90 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2017

L. Ebrahimnejad, K.D. Janoyan, D.T. Valentine and P. Marzocca

The application of reduced order models (ROMs) in the aerodynamic/aeroelastic analysis of long-span bridges, unlike the aeronautical structures, has not been extensively studied…

Abstract

Purpose

The application of reduced order models (ROMs) in the aerodynamic/aeroelastic analysis of long-span bridges, unlike the aeronautical structures, has not been extensively studied. ROMs are computationally efficient techniques, which have been widely used for predicting unsteady aerodynamic response of airfoils and wings. This paper aims to discuss the application of a reduced order computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the eigensystem realization algorithm (ERA) in the aeroelastic analysis of the Great Belt Bridge (GBB).

Design/methodology/approach

The aerodynamic impulse response of the GBB section is used to construct the aerodynamic ROM, and then the aerodynamic ROM is coupled with the reduced DOF model of the system to construct the aeroelastic ROM. Aerodynamic coefficients and flutter derivatives are evaluated and compared to those of the advanced discrete vortex method-based CFD code.

Findings

Results demonstrate reasonable prediction power and high computational efficiency of the technique that can serve for preliminary aeroelastic analysis and design of long-span bridges, optimization and control purposes.

Originality/value

The application of a system identification tool like ERA into the aeroelastic analysis of long-span bridges is performed for the first time in this work. Authors have developed their earlier work on the aerodynamic analysis of long-span bridges, published in the Journal of Bridge Engineering, by coupling the aerodynamic forces with reduced DOF of structural system. The high computational efficiency of the technique enables bridge designers to perform preliminary aeroelastic analysis of long-span bridges in less than a minute.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 34 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2022

Xinjiang Wang, Ziqiang Liu, Li Guo, Jinan Lv and Chen Ji

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel method to study the flutter coupling mechanism of the twin-fuselage aircraft, which is becoming a popular transportation vehicle…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel method to study the flutter coupling mechanism of the twin-fuselage aircraft, which is becoming a popular transportation vehicle recently.

Design/methodology/approach

A new method of flutter mode indicator is proposed based on the principle of work and power, which is realized through energy accumulation of generalized force work on generalized coordinates, based on which flutter coupling mechanism of the twin-fuselage aircraft is studied using ground vibration test and computational fluid dynamics/computational solid dynamics method.

Findings

Verification of the proposed flutter mode indicator is provided, by which the flutter mechanism of the twin fuselage is found as the horizontal tail’s torsion coupled with its bending effect and the “frequency drifting” phenomenon of twin-fuselage aircraft is explained logically, highlighting the proposed method in this paper.

Originality/value

This paper proposed a new method of flutter mode indicator, which has advantages in flutter modes indexes reliability, clear physical meaning and results normalization. This study found the flutter coupling mechanism of twin-fuselage aircraft, which has important guiding significance to the development of twin-fuselage aircraft.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 94 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

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