Design of an aeroelastic delta wing model for active flutter control

Ongoing research into the active control of aeroelastic structures has resulted in a new model for the control of delta wing flutter. An analytical and numerical formulation for both the aerodynamic forcing and structural response of the wing was developed. The order of the aerodynamic model was reduced through balanced model reduction, yielding an accurate, low order representation of the three-dimensional flow field around the delta wing. This fully coupled aero/structural model was used to investigate the optimal placement of piezoelectric sensors and actuators for control of the flutter mode of vibration. Particular emphasis was placed on designing an adaptive structure which emphasized control of the flutter mode. Previous work has shown that such control schemes can delay the onset of flutter to increased dynamic pressure. This work extends the practical use of reduced order aerodynamic modelling to the realm of real-time control system design, while simultaneously applying recently developed techniques for open-loop design and selection of sensors and actuators. Results from this study indicate that a single piezoelectric sensor / actuator pair can be designed to significantly extend the flutter boundary.