Aeroelastic response induced by free play, Part 2: Theoretical/experimental correlation analysis

An experimental model for an all-movable horizontal tail with a free-play gap in the actuating mechanism at the root of the tail wing was designed and constructed. The flutter response and nonlinear limit-cycle oscillations induced by a free-play gap have been measured in the Duke University wind tunnel, including gust response measurements.A computational code has been developed for aeroelastic analysis using a linear three-dimensional time-domain vortex lattice aerodynamic model. The computational code is used to study the flutter limit-cycle-oscillation response induced by a free-play gap and the gust response with these free-play gaps. The effects of the nominal angle of attack on limit-cycle oscillation and gust excitation are also studied. The theoretical and experimental correlation shows that the angle of attack significantly affects the limit-cycle oscillation behavior and, if sufficiently large, may suppress the limit-cycle oscillation entirely. The computed results are compared with the experimental data with reasonably good quantitative agreement between theory and experiment for flutter and limit-cycle oscillation. Copyright © 2011 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.

Duke Scholars

Author Earl H. Dowell Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materia ...