Smart Structures for Active Control of Aircraft Systems

A smart wing design is proposed here to demonstrate the feasibility of using smart structures for suppression of aircraft vibration. Active wing research, conducted for many years, continues today as an important element in advanced aircraft technology. This program will analytically demonstrate the use of piezoceramic sensors and actuators, in conjunction with a adaptive neural network estimation process, to actively suppress vibration of the first bending and first torsion modes of a full-scale wing model without the use of traditional flap actuators. Force, stroke, and power requirments will guide the placement and configuration of distributed surface-bonded piezoceramic elements. A fully-coupled, nonlinear, aero-structural-electromechanical numerical wing model will be used to evaluate a unique adaptive control architecture, potentially eliminating the requirement for augmenting aerodynamic states in flutter suppression techniques.