Transient aeroelastic responses and flutter analysis of a variable-span wing during the morphing process

To investigate the transient aeroelastic responses and flutter characteristics of a variablespan wing during the morphing process,a novel frst-order state-space aeroelastic model is proposed.The time-varying structural model of the morphing wing is established based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory with time-dependent boundary conditions.A nondimensionalization method is used to translate the time-dependent boundary conditions to be time-independent.The time-domain aerodynamic forces are calculated by the reduced-order unsteady vortex lattice method.The morphing parameters,i.e.,wing span length and morphing speed,are of particular interest for understanding the fundamental aeroelastic behavior of variable-span wings.A test case is proposed and numerical results indicate that the flutter characteristics are sensitive to both of the two morphing parameters.It could be noticed that the aeroelastic characteristics during the wing extracting process are more serious than those during the extending process at the same morphing speed by transient aeroelastic response analysis.In addition,a faster morphing process can get better aeroelastic performance while the mechanism comlexity will arise.     

折叠机翼变体飞机纵向操纵性与稳定性研究

针对一种飞翼布局折叠机翼变体飞机方案,建立了相应的研究模型,使用涡格估算方法计算出机翼折叠角度对全机纵向静稳定性的影响.利用飞机纵向小扰动运动方程,分别得到了机翼展开和折叠状态的长、短周期模态,并对其动稳定性进行了讨论.结合工程估算方法和风洞试验方法,计算出内段机翼折叠过程全机力矩系数、升降舵操纵导数以及升降舵配平偏角...     

Gain self-scheduled H_∞ control for morphing aircraft in the wing transition process based on an LPV model

This article investigates gain self-scheduled H 1 robust control system design for a tailless fold- ing-wing morphing aircraft in the wing shape varying process. During the wing morphing phase, the aircraft’s dynamic response will be governed by time-varying aerodynamic forces and moments. Nonlinear dynamic equations of the morphing aircraft are linearized by using Jacobian linearization approach, and a linear parameter varying (LPV) model of the morphing aircraft in wing folding is obtained. A multi-loop controller for the morphing aircraft is formulated to guarantee stability for the wing shape transition process. The proposed controller uses a set of inner-loop gains to provide stability using classical techniques, whereas a gain self-scheduled H 1 outer-loop controller is devised to guarantee a specific level of robust stability and performance for the time-varying dynamics. The closed-loop simulations show that speed and altitude vary slightly during the whole wing folding process, and they converge rapidly after the process ends. This proves that the gain self-scheduled H 1 robust controller can guarantee a satisfactory dynamic performance for the morphing aircraft during the whole wing shape transition process. Finally, the flight control system’s robustness for the wing folding process is verified according to uncertainties of the aerodynamic parameters in the nonlinear model.     

折叠机翼变体飞机非对称变形控制效率分析

折叠机翼变体飞机变形量大,变形引起的气动参数变化显著,提出一种将非对称变形作为操纵输入的控制方案,研究非对称变形的控制效率和有效区间。首先建立能够完整描述变形过程的非线性动力学方程和气动力模型;然后基于非对称变形控制方法建立一种非对称变形操纵模型;最后通过与常规操纵面效率对比和仿真的动态响应总结出非对称变形操纵的最大变形操纵有效区间。结果表明:在较低飞行速度下非对称变形操纵效率高,非对称变形操纵能够在基准折叠角度90°附近提供最高的滚转操纵效率。     

Computational aerodynamic analysis on perimeter reinforced （PR）-compliant wing

Abstract Implementing the morphing technique on a micro air vehicle （MAV） wing is a very chal- lenging task, due to the MAWs wing size limitation and the complex morphing mechanism. As a result, understanding aerodynamic characteristics and flow configurations, subject to wing structure deformation of a morphing wing MAV has remained obstructed. Thus, this paper presents the investigation of structural deformation, aerodynamics performance and flow formation on a pro- posed twist morphing MAV wing design named perimeter reinforced （PR）-compliant wing. The numerical simulation of two-way fluid structure interaction （FSI） investigation consist of a quasi- static aeroelastic structural analysis coupled with 3D incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier- Stokes and shear-stress-transport （RANS-SST） solver utilized throughout this study. Verification of numerical method on a rigid rectangular wing achieves a good correlation with available exper- imental results. A comparative aeroelastic study between PR-compliant to PR and rigid wing per- formance is organized to elucidate the morphing wing performances. Structural deformation results show that PR-compliant wing is able to alter the wing＇s geometric twist characteristic, which has directly influenced both the overall aerodynamic performance and flow structure behavior. Despite the superior lift performance result, PR-compliant wing also suffers from massive drag penalty, which has consequently affected the wing efficiency in general. Based on vortices investigation, the results reveal the connection between these aerodynamic performances with vortices formation on PR-comoliant wing.     

Z型翼变体飞机的纵向多体动力学特性

机翼变形时,变体飞机的翼面积、惯性特性、全机焦点和重心位置等均会发生较大的变化,从而引起飞机的动态特性也随之改变。为此对机翼变形过程中的Z型翼变体飞机进行了纵向多体动力学建模仿真;推导了变形过程中变体飞机的六自由度非线性动力学方程,并通过简化得到了解耦后的纵向动力学方程。机翼折叠动态过程的气动特性数值模拟结果表明,不同折叠角速度下飞机的气动力相差不大。在机翼折叠角速度较小且忽略非定常气动效应的情况下,采用气动力准定常假设对变形过程中不同机翼折叠角速度下变体飞机的纵向响应进行了数值仿真,并研究了重心位置移动和气动特性变化对飞机变形过程动态特性的影响规律。结果表明,折叠过程中气动特性的变化是影响飞机动态特性的主要因素,机翼折叠后飞机的速度和迎角增加,且飞行高度下降较大。     

折叠翼变体飞行器非定常气动特性实验研究

折叠翼变体飞行器是一种可以在飞行中改变自身气动外形的新型飞行器。研制出了一种折叠翼变体飞行器的风洞实验模型,在风洞实验中测得了模型不同变体位置下的气动力以及进行变体运动时气动力的动态变化过程,并通过PIV实验手段获得模型周围的流场在变体运动过程中的变化情况。结果表明：在机翼变形过程中,折叠翼模型有明显的非定常气动现象产生,而且折叠变形的速度越大,非定常现象越明显。出现非定常现象的主要原因是变体运动对机翼前缘涡的影响。     

Correction method of airfoil thickness effect in hinge moment calculation of a folding wing

The influences of airfoil thickness on the aerodynamic loading distribution and the hinge moments of folding wing aircraft are presented in this work. The traditional panel method shows deficiencies in the calculation of folding wing’s hinge moments. Thus, a thickness correction strategy for the aerodynamic model with CFD results is proposed, and an aeroelastic flight simulation platform is constructed based on the secondary development of ADAMS. Based on the platform, the developed aerodynamic model is verified, then the flight-folding process of the folding wing aircraft is simulated, and the influences of airfoil thickness on the results are investigated. Results show that the developed aerodynamic model can effectively describe the thickness effect of the folding wing. Airfoil thickness, which cannot be considered by the panel method, has a great influence on the hinge moments during the folding process, and the thickness correction has great significance in the calculation of folding wing’s hinge moments.     

Recent advance in nonlinear aeroelastic analysis and control of the aircraft

A review on the recent advance in nonlinear aeroelasticity of the aircraft is presented in this paper. The nonlinear aeroelastic problems are divided into three types based on different research objects, namely the two dimensional airfoil, the wing, and the full aircraft. Different non- linearities encountered in aeroelastic systems are discussed firstly, where the emphases is placed on new nonlinear model to describe tested nonlinear relationship. Research techniques, especially new theoretical methods and aeroelastic flutter control methods are investigated in detail. The route to chaos and the cause of chaotic motion of two-dimensional aeroelastic system are summarized. Var- ious structural modeling methods for the high-aspect-ratio wing with geometric nonlinearity are dis- cussed. Accordingly, aerodynamic modeling approaches have been developed for the aeroelastic modeling of nonlinear high-aspect-ratio wings. Nonlinear aeroelasticity about high-altitude long- endurance （HALE） and fight aircrafts are studied separately. Finally, conclusions and the chal- lenges of the development in nonlinear aeroelasticity are concluded. Nonlinear aeroelastic problems of morphing wing, energy harvesting, and flapping aircrafts are proposed as new directions in the future.     

Time-domain nonlinear aeroelastic analysis and wind tunnel test of a flexible wing using strain-based beam formulation

A theoretical formulation for time-domain nonlinear aeroelastic analysis of a flexible wing model is presented and validated by wind tunnel tests. A strain-based beam model for nonlinear structural analysis is combined with the Unsteady Vortex Lattice Method (UVLM) to form the complete framework for aeroelastic analysis. The nonlinear second-order differential equations are solved by an implicit time integration scheme that incorporates a Newton-Raphson sub-iteration technique. An advanced fiber optic sensing technique is firstly used in a wind tunnel for measuring large structural deformations. In the theoretical study, the nonlinear flutter boundary is determined by analyzing the transient response about the nonlinear static equilibrium with a series of flow velocities. The gust responses of the wing model at various gust frequencies are also studied. Comparisons of the theoretical and experimental results show that the proposed method is suitable for determining the nonlinear flutter boundary and simulating the gust response of flexible wings in the time domain.