ZONA TECHNOLOGY, INC (ZONA) AND ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (ASU) PROPOSE A R&D EFFORT TO FURTHER DEVELOP THE…

Public award description

ZONA TECHNOLOGY, INC (ZONA) AND ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (ASU) PROPOSE A R&D EFFORT TO FURTHER DEVELOP THE GROUND FLUTTER TESTING SYSTEM IN PLACE OF A WIND TUNNEL (WT), CALLED THE DRY WIND TUNNEL (DWT) SYSTEM. THE DWT SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A GROUND VIBRATION TEST (GVT) HARDWARE SYSTEM AND A REAL-TIME UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC FORCE GENERATION SOFTWARE SYSTEM DEVELOPED FROM AN AERODYNAMIC REDUCED ORDER MODEL (ROM). THE DWT SYSTEM CAN SERVE AS A REPLACEMENT OR COMPLIMENTARY MEANS FOR FLUTTER/ASE INSTABILITY TESTING TO A WT. OUR PHASE I EFFORT HAS SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED THE VALIDITY OF THE DWT CONCEPT. THAT IS, DWT TESTING CAN TRULY SIMULATE IN REAL TIME THE UNSTEADY AERODYNAMICS THROUGH A GVT HARDWARE SYSTEM, NAMELY THE SHAKERS AND SENSORS. MERITS OF A DWT ARE MANY: IT CAN USE REAL FULL-SIZE AIRCRAFT/WING STRUCTURE INCLUDING INHERENT STRUCTURAL NONLINEARITY AND FLIGHT CONTROLLER IN-THE LOOP, INSTEAD OF A FLUTTER MODEL FOR WT, HENCE A COST/TIME EFFECTIVE TEST SYSTEM. IT CAN BE CARRIED OUT WITH A GVT SETUP, AND BECAUSE OF THE SIMULATED AERODYNAMICS THE DWT MEASURED DATA IS WALL-INTERFERENCE FREE. THE DWT SYSTEM CAN BE APPLICABLE TO FLUTTER ENVELOPE EXPANSION AND FLYING QUALITY PROGRAMS OF MILITARY AND CIVIL TRANSPORT AS WELL AS GENERAL AVIATION AIRCRAFT.