Aeroelasticity

In the last years, the number of studies of new aircraft concepts for the future aviation has increased a lot. These studies are powered by new demands of efficiency and performance for the so-called green aircraft to reduce fuel burning and harmful emissions, and to save operational costs. Worldwide, the concept of green aircraft is being discussed, in different forums, for example, the Horizon 2020, the European Framework Program for Research and Innovation, and the CleanSky Partnership between the European Commission and the Aeronautical Industry to reduce the future aviation’s impact on the environment. At least in the short-term, the industry is walking toward higher-aspect-ratio wings and the use of alternative (composite), lighter materials. As a direct consequence, the aircraft becomes more flexible and the frequency range of the aeroelastic dynamics is pushed toward the range of the flight dynamics modes. Aeroservoelastic stability shall be an issue and, therefore, new methodologies for flight control law design of these flexible aircraft, considering the aeroelastic dynamics, are being pursued. Moreover, to expand the flight operational envelope, aeroelastic control plays a decisive role, and to reduce the impact of gust loads over the wing structure, a gust load alleviation system shall be required. A high-fidelity simulation tool of the flight physics is the key point to precisely assess the flexible aircraft behaviour, in both open and closed loop, and to save costs with flight testing. Within this context, this research proposal focuses on an international research collaboration between ITA and TU-Berlin addressing the following topics in line with the research areas aforementioned: (i) application of multifunctional materials for flutter suppression and gust alleviation, (ii) development of control laws for more flexible aircraft, (iii) impact of aircraft flexibility on flying qualities.