Suppression of bending-torsion wing flutter using self-straining controllers

Flutter is an instability endemic to aircraft that occurs at high enough air speed. Suppression of flutter is in the interest of safety and economy. In this study, we propose a purely analytical approach to the problem flutter suppression. Counter to the commercially available numerical schemes, mathematical precisions are provided to gain a better understanding of the flutter phenomenon and the controller performance.; We model the wing structure and aerodynamics with a pair of time-invariant linear partial differential equations. The control action of the self-straining material is easily incorporated into the structural model as boundary control. This model faithfully captures the flutter phenomenon as well as the control action. A State Space representation is carefully chosen for the aeroelastic model. The problem of flutter analysis is reduced to evaluating the resolvent of the aeroelastic operator.; We also present a Laplace-Fourier Transform version of the Possio equation in the theory of Unsteady Subsonic Aerodynamics. This new version enables us to obtain explicit formulas for the lift and moment, which in turn afford us to analyze the flutter problem more readily. Analyses reveal the torsion controllers are effective in extending the flutter boundary while the bending controllers are not.; A series of experiments were designed to validate our theoretical models for flutter analysis and to test the performance of self-straining actuators. An aeroelastic wing with self-straining sensors and actuators were designed to flutter within the speed limit of the vehicle as well as the assumptions of our theoretical model. The NASA Ground Research Vehicle, the "Roadrunner" served as the platform for these experiments.; The processed data from the field tests showed the theoretical prediction of flutter speed is accurate. Theoretical calculations for both of the frequencies and damping as function of air speed were also found to be within the experimental error. However, the self-straining actuators failed to stabilize the test wing when the amplitudes of the oscillations grew large as test wing responded to the ground vibration and to an intermittent cross wind.