Aeroelasticity

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Comprehend assumptions underlying industrial aircraft design and motivate needs for enhanced simulations
• Sustain a critical analysis of aeroelasticity in the context of next-generation aircraft
• Derive from first principle the differential equations governing aeroelastic phenomena
• Critically evaluate the practical feasibility of unconventional aerial configurations

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The role played by different disciplines within the context of aero-servo-elasticity
• Static and dynamic aeroelastic effects and their impact on aircraft design process
• Setup, analyse, and critically discuss problems of practical use
• Analytical and computational methods for aeroelastic analysis

Full CEng Programme Level Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• As part of the coursework and final exam, students must demonstrate to reach substantiated conclusions to complex aeroelastic problems using available data and applying their engineering judgement when information is uncertain or incomplete, discussing the limitations of the aeroelastic techniques employed
• As part of the coursework and final exam, students must evaluate the impact that aeroelastic solutions to complex problems in aviation have on the environment and the society
• As part of lecture series of invited external speakers, students must attend lectures given by industry experts, part of a wider CPD opportunity
• As part of the module, student must select and justify the aeroelastic theory and technology to be used for their engineering design
• As part of the final exam, students must demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of classic aeroelastic theory to the solution of complex problems and awareness of recent research developments captured from the wider context of engineering
• As part of the module, students are exposed to the multi-faceted aspects of aeroelasticity and to apply an integrated approach to the solution of complex problems with diverse systems interacting
• As part of a lecture series of invited external guests, students are taught to identify, select and critically evaluate technical literature, skills which are then assessed in the coursework
• Students are assessed based on the selection and application of appropriate techniques to solve complex aeroelastic problems, and discussing the limitations of the techniques

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Appreciate practical engineering solutions to deal with aeroelasticity and their impact on overall aircraft performances
• Solve problems using analytical and computational tools
• Study and learn independently
• Critically examine the solution of numerical problems against acquired knowledge

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Solve problems systematically
• Demonstrate study and time management skills
• Study and learn independently

The topics to be covered will include static and dynamic aeroelastic stability and response, and unsteady aerodynamics for fixed-wing aircraft. Several aspects of the aeroelastic problem will also be explored for high-altitude long endurance vehicles, and wind tunnel tests. Finally, aero-servo-elasticity will be presented as a mean of modifying the aeroelastic behaviour of the system by introduction of control forces.

Introduction:

Module presentation: content introduction, formative and summative assessment, computer and practical laboratories, background material and suggested revisions, and overview of aircraft structures.

Structural Dynamics:

Review of single and multi-degree of freedom mechanical systems; analytical and numerical solution of ordinary and partial differential equations; discrete and continuous structural models; variational principles to derive equations of motions; modal approach.

Static Aeroelasticity:

Static divergence of an aerofoil section and a cantilever wing; aileron reversal and aileron effectiveness for an aerofoil section and a cantilever wing; effects of wing sweep angle and compressibility; structural design features to minimise adverse static aeroelastic effects.

Unsteady Aerodynamics:

Governing equations for viscous, inviscid, potential and transonic small disturbance flows; unsteady vortex lattice method and doublet lattice method; piston theory for supersonic flows; finite state aerodynamic modelling.

Dynamic Aeroelasticity:

Dynamic aeroelastic phenomena for an aerofoil section and a cantilever wing; effects of flexibility on wing loads; response to deterministic and stochastic external excitations; engineering solutions to the flutter problem; linear and nonlinear aeroelastic phenomena and available methods.

Aero-servo-elasticity:

Introduction to classic control theory based on feedback control; servo actuators; modern control theory; adverse aeroelastic interactions; active gust and manoeuvre loads alleviation.

Experimental Aeroelasticity:

Measurement of structural influence coefficients; ground resonance testing; measurement of inertia and structural damping; wind tunnel techniques for the measurement of oscillatory derivatives; similarity requirements for flutter model testing; model construction; wind tunnel flutter tests; flight flutter tests.

Teaching activities include 36 hours of taught lectures which include 2 hours of seminar given by an external speaker from a major aerospace industry. Learning activities include directed reading and problem solving.

The module will also include computer and experimental laboratories. The coursework assignment will assess the student knowledge and ability to critically analyse a problem of practical interest using a combination of analytical and computational techniques.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Tutorial sheets

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback: Formative assessment: students may submit the solutions of the 5 tutorial sheets to the lecturer who will provide, on an individual basis, a written feedback. The solution of the tutorial sheets will also be discussed during the taught lectures to highlight generic insights on how to solve the questions.
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.