Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T10:38:40.483Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A flight test to demonstrate flutter and evaluate the flutterometer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

R. Lind
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Florida, USA
D. F. Voracek
Affiliation:
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, USA
R. Truax
Affiliation:
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, USA
T. Doyle
Affiliation:
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, USA
S. Potter
Affiliation:
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, USA
M. Brenner
Affiliation:
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, USA

Abstract

A project was recently completed that investigated the ability to predict the onset of flutter using tools like the flutterometer. This project used an experiment called the aerostructures test wing that was flown while mounted to the flight test fixture on an F-15. Several flight tests were conducted to expand the envelope and determine the aeroelastic dynamics of the experiment. The final flight ended with destruction of the experiment due to the onset of flutter. The flutterometer attempted to predict this onset by analysing the flight data. The results indicate the flutterometer is able to generate a conservative estimate of the flight conditions associated with flutter. This paper details the flight tests of the experiment and the resulting predictions from the flutterometer.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2003 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Kehoe, M.W. A historical overview of flight flutter testing, NASA-TM-4720, October 1995.Google Scholar
2. Livne, E. Integrated aeroservoelastic optimisation: status and direction, J Aircr, January-February 1999, 36, (1), pp 122145.Google Scholar
3. Battoo, R.S., An introductory guide to literature in aeroelasticity, Aeronaut J, November 1999, 103, (1029), pp 511518.Google Scholar
4. Cooper, J.E., Emmett, P.R., Wright, J.R. and Schofield, M.J. Envelope function – A tool for analyzing flutter data, J Aircr, 30, (5), September-October 1993, pp 785790.Google Scholar
5. Zimmerman, N.H. and Weissenburger, J.T. Prediction of flutter onset speed based on flight testing at subcritical speeds, J Aircr, 1, (4), July-August 1964, pp 190202.Google Scholar
6. Nissim, E. and Gilyard, G.B. Method for experimental determination of flutter speed by parameter identification, NASA-TP-2923, June 1989.Google Scholar
7. Girard, M. and Mcintosh, S. Flutter testing in the 90s (The GBU-24 Saga), proceedings of the IEEE aerospace conference, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Piscataway, NJ, 1998, 3, pp 3950.Google Scholar
8. Dunn, S.A., Farrell, P.A., Arms, P.B., Hardie, C.A. and Rendo, C.J. F/A-18A Flight flutter testing – limit cycle oscillation or flutter, proceedings of the international forum on aeroelasticity and structural dynamics, Asociacion de Ingenieros Aeronauticos de Espana, Madrid Spain, 2001, 3, pp 299310.Google Scholar
9. Lind, R. and Brenner, M. The Flutterometer: An on-line tool to predict robust flutter margins, J Aircr, November-December 2000, 37, (6), pp 11051112.Google Scholar
10. Lind, R. and Brenner, M. Robust Aeroservoelastic Stability Analysis, Springer-Verlag, April 1999, London.Google Scholar
11. Packard, A. and Doyle, J. The complex structured singular value, Automatica, 29, (1), January 1993, pp 71109.Google Scholar
12. Richwine, D.M., F-15B/Flight Test Fixture II: A test bed for flight research, NASA-TM-4782, December 1996.Google Scholar
13. Voracek, D., Reaves, M., Horta, L. and Potter, S. Piezoelectric actuators for ground and flight test structural excitation, proceedings of the AIAA structures, structural dynamics, and materials conference, AIAA, Reston, VA, AIAA-2002-1349, April 2002.Google Scholar
14. Potter, S. and Lind, R. Developing uncertainty models for robust flutter analysis using ground vibration test data, Proceedings of the AIAA Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, AIAA, Reston, VA, AIAA-2001-1585, April 2001.Google Scholar
15. Zona Technology, ZAERO Users Guide, Scottsdale AZ, 2000.Google Scholar
16. Karpel, M., Design for active flutter suppression and gust load alleviation using state-space aeroelastic modelling, J Aircr, March 1982, 19, (3), pp 221227.Google Scholar
17. Lind, R., Match-point solutions for robust flutter analysis, J Aircr, January-February 2002, 39, (1), pp 9199.Google Scholar
18. Freudinger, L.C., Miller, M.J. and Kiefer, K. A distributed computing environment for signal processing and systems health monitoring, proceedings of the AIAA/IEEE/SAE Digital Avionics Systems Conference, AIAA, Reston, VA, October 1998, pp C35/1C35/8.Google Scholar
19. Hancock, G.J., Wright, J.R. and Simpson, A. On the teaching of the principles of wing flexure-torsion flutter, Aeronaut J, October 1985, 89, (888), pp 285305.Google Scholar
20. Mortagua, J.P. and Lind, R. Accurate flutterometer predictions using Volterra modelling with modal parameter estimation, J Aircr, to be published.Google Scholar
21. Brenner, M.J. Nonstationary dynamics data analysis with wavelet-SVD Filtering, NASA-TM-2001-210391, April 2001.Google Scholar
22. Lind, R. and Brenner, M. Flight test evaluation of flutter prediction methods, proceedings of the AIAA structures, structural dynamics, and materials conference, AIAA. Reston, VA, AIAA-2002-1649, April 2002.Google Scholar
23. Prazenica, R.J., Lind, R., and Kurdila, A.J. Uncertainty estimation from Volterra kernels for robust flutter analysis, proceedings of the AIAA structures, structural dynamics, and materials conference, AIAA,Reston, VA, AIAA-2002-1650, April 2002.Google Scholar
23. Brenner, M.J. Aeroservoelastic uncertainty model identification from flight data, proceedings of the international forum on aeroelasticity and structural dynamics, Asociacion de Ingenieros Aeronauticos de Espana, Madrid Spain, 2001, 3, pp 299310.Google Scholar