IGF::OT::IGF CLEAR SCIENCE CORP. PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD)-BAS…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF CLEAR SCIENCE CORP. PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD)-BASED, REDUCED-ORDER AEROSERVOELASTICITY MODELING AND SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY FOR FAST AND ACCURATE PREDICTIONS OF NONLINEAR FLIGHT DYNAMICS, ENABLING REAL-TIME, PILOTED AND UNPILOTED FLIGHT SIMULATIONS AND PROVIDING A TOOL TO DESIGN FLIGHT CONTROLLERS FOR HIGHLY FLEXIBLE, LIGHTWEIGHT AIRCRAFT. PHYSICS-BASED, REDUCED-ORDER MODELS (ROMS) WILL BE DEVELOPED AND DEMONSTRATED WITH DATA FROM CFD MODELS OF THE X-56, AN EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT THAT NASA AND THE U. S. AIR FORCE ARE USING TO TEST SYSTEMS FOR FLUTTER SUPPRESSION AND GUST-LOAD ALLEVIATION. EXTENDED RANGE AND LOW FUEL CONSUMPTION THROUGH LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS AND LARGE WING SPANS (HIGH LIFT-TO-DRAG RATIOS) ARE THE DRIVERS IN NEXT-GENERATION AIRCRAFT LIKE THE X-56, BUT THESE ATTRIBUTES CREATE CHALLENGES IN MAINTAINING FLIGHT SAFETY, RIDE QUALITY, AND LONG-TERM STRUCTURAL DURABILITY. THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLIGHT CONTROLLERS THAT CAN ACTIVELY MANAGE AEROSERVOELASTIC EFFECTS (BODY-FREEDOM FLUTTER, CONTROL REVERSAL, GUST LOADING) WITHOUT COMPROMISING SAFETY AND AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE IS A KEY OBJECTIVE OF BOTH THE X-56 PROGRAM AND THE PROPOSED PROJECT. THROUGH THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY, NONLINEAR, AEROSERVOELASTIC ROMS CAN BE COUPLED TO OTHER COMPONENTS OF A FLIGHT SIMULATOR (SIX-DEGREES-OF-FREEDOM FLIGHT MECHANICS MODELS AND CONTROL SOFTWARE) TO IMPROVE THE FIDELITY OF SIMULATIONS THAT SUPPORT CONTROLLER DESIGN FOR A WIDE RANGE OF OPERATING CONDITIONS.