A team comprised of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and the NASA Langley Research Center conducted three aeroservoelastic wind-tunnel tests in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel to demonstrate active control technologies relevant to large, flexible vehicles. In the first of these three tests, a semispan, aeroelastically scaled, wind-tunnel model of a flying wing SensorCraft vehicle was mounted to a force balance to demonstrate gust load alleviation. In the second and third tests, the same wing was mated to a new, multi-degree-of-freedom, sidewall mount. This mount allowed the half-span model to translate vertically and pitch at the wing root, allowing better simulation of the full span vehicle's rigid-body modes. Gust Load Alleviation (GLA) and Body Freedom Flutter (BFF) suppression were successfully demonstrated. The rigid body degrees-of-freedom required that the model be flown in the wind tunnel using an active control system. This risky mode of testing necessitated that a model arrestment system be integrated into the new mount. The safe and successful completion of these free-flying tests required the development and integration of custom hardware and software. This paper describes the many systems, software, and procedures that were developed as part of this effort.

No abstract

No abstract