Actively Deformable Control Device for Fatigue Life Enhancement

This innovation describes an economical approach to improve the fatigue life of aircraft components that are subjected to dynamic load environment. Prolonged exposures to buffeting causes sever fatigue damage resulting in catastrophic failure of vertical tails of combat aircraft such as F18, F15, F22 and JSF. Consequently, multi-million dollar aircraft must be grounded for untimely expensive repairs in a critical strategic situation. Such failures can be avoided by monitoring and providing means of alleviating the severity of the dynamic loads. One effective method is to employ an active control surface modal device that generates sufficient aerodynamic damping to reduce or eliminate vibrations caused by buffeting/gust environment. A lightweight smart actuation device together with an active control system will be imbedded into a flexible rudder or a control surface. This device can be installed on new as well as existing fleet of military or commercial aircraft. These are inexpensive and easy to replace. The phase I study establishes the proof of concept and scalability of the smart actuation device for full-scale aircraft, while the Phase II will demonstrate its adaptation in flight tests. rs.