Aeroelastic oscillations of a delta wing with piezoelectric strips

Piezoelectric materials offer an alternative method for active control of aeroelastic oscillations that is potentially cheaper, lighter, and more effective than conventional control methods. In this paper, the aeroelastic oscillations of a delta wing under the combined effects of unsteady supersonic aerodynamic loading and bonded piezoeletric strips are studied. The delta wing is modelled as a cantilevered triangular plate undergoing small transverse oscillations. A hybrid analytical-numerical method is developed for the unsteady supersonic aerodynamics of the wing, in order to determine the pressure distribution and the generalized aerodynamic forces on the wing. Finally, in the presence of bonded piezoelectric strips, the transient and dynamic responses of the wing are studied with and without aerodynamic loading, respectively. It is found that with particular combinations of voltages and a small number of piezoelectric strips, the amplitude of the aeroelastic oscillations can be effectively reduced. The piezoelectric actuators aligned with the span are more effective than the chord-aligned piezoelectric actuators, which produce little or no reduction in the oscillations.