Smart Vanes for UCAV Engine Applications

Acharya, Mukund; Emo, Steve; Bugajski, Dan; Williams, David R.

doi:10.2514/6.2004-2516

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These actuators include synthetic jets (Glezer et al, 2005;Gomes et al, 2006;Ohanian et al, 2009), plasma actuators (Ramakumar and Jacob, 2005;Pern et al, 2006;Patel et al, 2007) and piezoceramic actuators that move in the out-of-plane direction (Santhanakrishnan et al, 2005). Non-zero mass flux actuators are also used in trailing edge blowing (TEB) for circulation control and demonstrated in applications from helicopters (Rogers et al, 1985) to turbine blades (Acharya et al, 2004). Greenblatt and Wygnanski (2000) present a review of control of flow separation from solid surfaces by periodic excitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macro-Fiber Composite Actuators for Flow Control of a Variable Camber Airfoil

Bilgen

Marqui

Kochersberger

et al. 2010

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This research employs solid-state actuators for delay of flow separation seen in airfoils at low Reynolds numbers. The flow control technique investigated here is aimed for a variable camber airfoil that employs two active surfaces and a single four-bar (box) mechanism as the internal structure. To reduce separation, periodic excitation to the flow around the leading edge of the airfoil is induced by a total of nine piezocomposite actuated clamped-free unimorph benders distributed in the spanwise direction. An electromechanical model is employed to design an actuator capable of high deformations at the desired frequency for lift improvement at post-stall angles. The optimum spanwise distribution of excitation for increasing lift coefficient is identified experimentally in the wind tunnel. A 3D (non-uniform) excitation distribution achieved higher lift enhancement in the post-stall region with lower power consumption when compared to the 2D (uniform) excitation distribution. A lift coefficient increase of 18.4% is achieved with the identified non-uniform excitation mode at the bender resonance frequency of 125 Hz, the flow velocity of 5 m/s and at the reduced frequency of 3.78. The maximum lift (Clmax) is increased 5.2% from the baseline. The total power consumption of the flow control technique is 639 mWRMS.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macro-Fiber Composite Actuators for Flow Control of a Variable Camber Airfoil

Bilgen

Marqui

Kochersberger

et al. 2010

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conformal zero mass flux actuators include synthetic jets (Glezer et al, 2005;Gomes et al, 2006;Ohanian et al, 2009), plasma actuators (Ramakumar and Jacob, 2005;Pern et al, 2006;Patel et al, 2007), and piezo-ceramic actuators that move in the out-of-plane direction (Santhanakrishnan et al, 2005). There are also nonzero mass flux trailing edge blowing (TEB) for circulation control, demonstrated in applications from helicopters (Rogers et al, 1985) to turbine blades (Acharya et al, 2004). Greenblatt and Wygnanski (2000) presents a review of control of flow separation from solid surfaces by periodic excitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Piezoceramic Composite Actuators for Flow Control in Low Reynolds Number Airflow

Bilgen¹,

Marqui

Kochersberger

et al. 2010

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The research presented here employs solid-state actuators for flow separation delay or for forced attachment of separated flow seen in airfoils at low Reynolds numbers. To reduce separation, periodic excitation to the flow around the leading edge of the airfoil is induced by Macro-Fiber Composite actuated clamped-free unimorph benders. An electromechanical model of the unimorph is briefly presented and parametric study is conducted to aid the design of a unimorph to output high deformation at a desired frequency. The optimum frequency and amplitude for lift improvement at post-stall angles are identified experimentally. Along with aerodynamic force and structural displacement measurements, helium bubble flow visualization is used to verify existing separated flow, and the attached flow induced by flow control. The lift enhancement induced by several flow control techniques is compared. A symmetric and non-uniform (3D) flow excitation results in the maximum lift enhancement at post-stall region at the lowest power consumption level. A maximum lift coefficient increase of 27.5% (in the post-stall region) is achieved at 125 Hz periodic excitation, with the 3D symmetric actuation mode at 5 m/s and the reduced frequency of 3.78. Cl, max is increased 7.6% from the baseline.

show abstract

“…Thus, the shape memory alloy induced camber changes can be used to achieve a desired collective control of the helicopter. The lift resulting from this camber change is then the primary source Acharya (20) presented the application of flow control technology to the compressor of a gas-turbine engine designed for UCAV applications are described. 'Smart' stator vanes and inlet guide vanes (IGVs) were developed and demonstrated in research compressor rigs.…”

Section: Smart Materials In Rotorcraft Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macro-fiber composite actuators for a swept wing unmanned aircraft

Bilgen¹,

Kochersberger²,

Inman³

2009

Aeronaut. j.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The design, manufacturing, and control of small unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and micro air vehicles (MAVs) in unsteady aerodynamic loading remains an active area of research. MAVs are a class of aircraft that are small and inexpensive. They can be used for missions where larger vehicles are not practical, such as low altitude battlefield, urban, and wildlife surveillance. The fabrication of small aircraft has become more feasible with the decreased size and weight of sensors, video, communication devices, and many other electronic subsystems. However, it is known that articulated lifting surfaces and articulated wing sections actuated by servos are difficult to instrument and fabricate in a repeatable fashion on thin, composite wing MAVs. Assembly of the vehicle is complex and time consuming. Here, we examine the use of solid-state actuators to address these issues.The past few decades have seen the development and integration of active materials into a variety of host structures as a superior means of measuring and controlling their behaviour. Piezoceramics remain the most widely used 'smart' or active material because they offer high actuation authority and sensing over a wide range of frequencies. A smart material, from a broad perspective, is a solid-state material that ABSTRACTThe purpose of the research presented here is to exploit actuation via smart materials to perform shape control of an aerofoil on a small aircraft and to determine the feasibility and advantages of smooth control surface deformations. A type of piezoceramic composite actuator known as Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) is used for changing the camber of the wings. The MFC actuators were implemented on a 30° swept wing, 0·76m wingspan aircraft. The experimental vehicle was flown using two MFC patches in an elevator/aileron (elevon) configuration. Preliminary flight and windtunnel testing has demonstrated the stability and control of the concept. Flight tests were performed to quantify roll control using the MFC actuators. Lift and drag coefficients along with pitch and roll moment coefficients were measured in a low-speed, open-section wind tunnel. A vortex-lattice analysis complemented the database of aerodynamic derivatives used to analyse control response. The research, for the first time, successfully demonstrated that piezoceramic devices requiring high voltages can be effectively employed in small air vehicles without compromising the weight of the overall system.

show abstract

Smart Vanes for UCAV Engine Applications

Cited by 5 publications

References 15 publications

Macro-Fiber Composite Actuators for Flow Control of a Variable Camber Airfoil

Macro-Fiber Composite Actuators for Flow Control of a Variable Camber Airfoil

Piezoceramic Composite Actuators for Flow Control in Low Reynolds Number Airflow

Macro-fiber composite actuators for a swept wing unmanned aircraft

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About