Nonlinear Analysis of Store-Induced Limit Cycle Oscillations

Flight tests of modern high-performance fighter aircraft reveal the presence of limit cycle oscillation (LCO) responses for aircraft with certain external store configurations. Conventional linear aeroelastic analysis predicts flutter for conditions well beyond the operational envelope, yet these store-induced LCO responses occur at flight conditions within the flight envelope. Several nonlinear sources may be present, including aerodynamic effects such as flow separation and shock-boundary layer interaction and structural effects such as stiffening, damping, and system kinematics. No complete theory has been forwarded to accurately explain the mechanisms responsible. This research examines a two degree-of-freedom aeroelastic system which possesses kinematic nonlinearities and a strong nonlinearity in pitch stiffness. Nonlinear analysis techniques are used to gain insight into the characteristics of the behavior of the system. Numerical simulation is used to verify and validate the analysis. It is found that when system damping is low, the system clearly exhibits nonlinear interaction between aeroelastic modes. It is also shown that although certain applied forcing conditions may appear negligible, these same forces produce large amplitude LCOs under specific realizable circumstances.     

考虑几何非线性的复合材料机翼气动弹性分析

本文研究结构几何非线性与气动力非平面效应对大展弦比复合材料机翼的气动弹性行为的影响．将非线性有限元法与曲面涡格法结合,计算机翼静气动弹性变形;通过曲面偶极子格网法结合静气动弹性平衡位置处的结构切线刚度,建立气动弹性方程并求解得到机翼颤振速度．针对板模型机翼,分析了迎角对机翼几何非线性气动弹性特性的影响．结果表明：本文复合材料板模型机翼的颤振形式不受水平弯曲模态影响,属于经典弯扭颤振;在几何非线性的影响下,机翼扭转频率随结构变形增大而明显减小,颤振速度随迎角增大而减小．     

Transonic limit cycle oscillation behavior of an aeroelastic airfoil with free-play

The limit cycle oscillation (LCO) behaviors of an aeroelastic airfoil with free-play for different Mach numbers are studied. Euler equations are adopted to obtain the unsteady aerodynamic forces. Aerodynamic and structural describing functions are employed to deal with aerodynamic and structural nonlinearities, respectively. Then the flutter speed and flutter frequency are obtained by V-g method. The LCO solutions for the aeroelastic airfoil obtained by using dynamically linear aerodynamics agree well with those obtained directly by using nonlinear aerodynamics. Subsequently, the dynamically linear aerodynamics is assumed, and results show that the LCOs behave variously in different Mach number ranges. A subcritical bifurcation, consisting of both stable and unstable branches, is firstly observed in subsonic and high subsonic regime. Then in a narrow Mach number range, the unstable LCOs with small amplitudes turn to be stable ones dominated by the single degree of freedom flutter. Meanwhile, these LCOs can persist down to very low flutter speeds. When the Mach number is increased further, the stable branch turns back to be unstable. To address the reason of the stability variation for different Mach numbers at small amplitude LCOs, we find that the Mach number freeze phenomenon provides a physics-based explanation and the phase reversal of the aerodynamic forces will trigger the single degree of freedom flutter in the narrow Mach number range between the low and high Mach numbers of the chimney region. The high Mach number can be predicted by the freeze Mach number, and the low one can be estimated by the Mach number at which the aerodynamic center of the airfoil lies near its elastic axis. Influence of angle of attack and viscous effects on the LCO behavior is also discussed.     

Numerical investigation of the effects of structural geometric and material nonlinearities on limit-cycle oscillation of a cropped delta wing

This article presents numerical simulations of the limit-cycle oscillation (LCO) of a cropped delta wing in order to investigate the effects of structural geometric and material nonlinearities on aeroelastic behavior. In the computational model, the structural part included both the geometric nonlinearity that arises from large deflections, and the material nonlinearity that originates from plasticity. The Euler equations were employed in the fluid part to describe the transonic aerodynamics. Moreover, the load transfer was conducted using a 3-D interpolating procedure, and the interfaces between the structural and aerodynamic domains were constructed in the form of an exact match. The flutter and LCO behaviors of the cropped delta wing were simulated using the coupling model, and the results were compared with existing experimental measurements. For lower dynamic pressures, the geometric nonlinearity provided the proper mechanism for the development of the LCO, and the numerical results correlated with the experimental values. For higher dynamic pressures, the material nonlinearity led to a rapid rise in the LCO amplitude, and the simulated varying trend was consistent with the experimental observation. This study demonstrated that the LCO of the cropped delta wing was not only closely related to geometric nonlinearity, but was also remarkably affected by material nonlinearity.     

Effects of multiple structural nonlinearities on limit cycle oscillation of missile control fin

Aeroelastic analyses are performed for a 2-D typical section model with multiple nonlinearities. The differences between a system with multiple nonlinearities in its pitch and plunge spring and a system with a single nonlinearity in its pitch are thoroughly investigated. The unsteady supersonic aerodynamic forces are calculated by the doublet point method (DPM). The iterative V-g method is used for a multiple-nonlinear aeroelastic analysis in the frequency domain and the freeplay nonlinearity is linearized using a describing function method. In the time domain, the DPM unsteady aerodynamic forces, which are based on a function of the reduced frequency, are approximated by the minimum state approximation method. Consequently, multiple structural nonlinearities in the 2-D typical wing section model are influenced by the pitch to plunge frequency ratio. This result is important in that it demonstrates that the flutter speed is closely connected with the frequency ratio, considering that both pitch and plunge nonlinearities result in a higher flutter speed boundary than a conventional aeroelastic system with only one pitch nonlinearity. Furthermore, the gap size of the freeplay affects the amplitude of the limit cycle oscillation (LCO) to gap size ratio.     

Aeroelastic prediction of the limit cycle oscillations of a cropped delta wing

The flutter and limit cycle oscillation (LCO) behavior of a cropped delta wing are investigated using a newly developed computational aeroelastic solver. This computational model includes a well-validated Euler finite difference solver coupled to a high-fidelity finite element structural solver. The nonlinear structural model includes geometric nonlinearities which are modelled using a co-rotational formulation. The LCOs of the cropped delta wing are computed and the results are compared to previous computations and to experiment. Over the range of dynamic pressures for which experimental results are reported, the LCO magnitudes computed using the current model are comparable to those from a previous computation which used a lower-order von Karman structural model. However, for larger dynamic pressures, the current computational model and the model which used the von Karman theory start to differ significantly, with the current model predicting larger deflections for a given dynamic pressure. This results in a LCO curve which is in better qualitative agreement with experiment. Flow features which were present in the previous computational model such as a leading edge vortex and a shock wave are enhanced in the current model due to the prediction of larger deflections and rotations at the higher dynamic pressures.     

Limit cycle oscillation behavior of transonic control surface buzz considering free-play nonlinearity

The limit cycle oscillation (LCO) behaviors of control surface buzz in transonic flow are studied. Euler equations are employed to obtain the unsteady aerodynamic forces for Type B and Type C buzz analyses, and an all-movable control surface model, a wing/control surface model and a three-dimensional wing with a full-span control surface are adopted in the study. Aerodynamic and structural describing functions are used to deal with aerodynamic and structural nonlinearities, respectively. Then the buzz speed and buzz frequency are obtained by V-g method. The LCO behavior of the transonic control surface buzz system with linear structure exhibits subcritical or supercritical bifurcation at different Mach numbers. For nonlinear structural model with a free-play nonlinearity in the control surface deflection stiffness, the double LCO phenomenon is observed in certain range of flutter speed. The free-play nonlinearity changes the stability of LCOs at small amplitudes and turns the unstable LCO into a stable one. The LCO behavior is dominated by the aerodynamic nonlinearity for the case with large control surface oscillation amplitude but by the structural nonlinearity for the case with small amplitude. Good agreements between LCO behaviors obtained by the present method and available experimental data show that our study may help to explain the experimental observation in wind tunnel tests and to understand the physical mechanism of transonic control surface buzz.     

Experiments on transonic limit-cycle-flutter of a flexible swept wing

The aeroelastic behavior of wing models is nonlinear particularly in the transonic speed range. The interaction between aerodynamic and structural forces can lead to the occurrence of Limit-Cycle Oscillations (LCOs). If in addition the wing model is flexible and backward swept, the kinematic coupling between bending and torsion makes the situation even more complex.In the research project “Aerostabil” such a wing was investigated, which was equipped with pressure transducers in three sections and accelerometers. The experiments were performed in the adaptive test section of the transonic wind tunnel TWG in Göttingen. Already Dietz et al. (2003) have reported about experimental details and preliminary results. Based on these data Bendiksen (2008) studied numerically LCO-flutter behavior using a very similar, theoretical model (G-wing) and Stickan et al. (2014) used the original data as a LCO flutter test case. The influence of flexibility on the steady aerodynamics of the wing was described in Schewe & Mai (2018). In this paper now the flutter experiments with the same flexible model were analyzed systematically in the transonic range 0.84 <Ma <0.89 and for six angles of attack from 1.46°to 2.7°. Maps of stability, LCO amplitudes and instantaneous pressure distributions are presented. It was found that unstable regions are islands, whose extent depends on the angle of attack. A LCO test case, already treated in the literature is examined in more detail. The analysis of the time functions showed that during LCO-flutter the motion induced aerodynamic sectional lift forces particularly in the outer wing are asymmetric and thus acting as amplitude limiter. The reason for the asymmetry lies in the shock/boundary layer interaction. The test case, containing the stages of built-up and the transition to the limit cycle provides an excellent opportunity for improving our knowledge about LCOs and for code validation purposes.     

Limit cycle oscillations of rectangular cantilever wings containing cubic nonlinearity in an incompressible flow

Limit cycle oscillations (LCO) as well as nonlinear aeroelastic analysis of rectangular cantilever wings with a cubic nonlinearity are investigated. Aeroelastic equations of a rectangular cantilever wing with two degrees of freedom in an incompressible potential flow are presented in the time domain. The harmonic balance method is modified to calculate the LCO frequency and amplitude for rectangular wings. In order to verify the derived formulation, flutter boundaries are obtained via a linear analysis of the derived system of equations for five different cases and compared with experimental data. Satisfactory results are gained through this comparison. The problem of finding the LCO frequency and amplitude is solved via applying the two methods discussed for two different cases with hardening cubic nonlinearities. The results from first-, third- and fifth-order harmonic balance methods are compared with the results of an exact numerical solution. A close agreement is obtained between these harmonic balance methods and the exact numerical solution of the governing aeroelastic equations. Finally, the nonlinear aeroelastic analysis of a rectangular cantilever wing with a softening nonlinearity is studied.     

Aerodynamic characteristics of a deltawing in the case of harmonic oscillations with respect to the roll and yaw angles at high angles of attack

The aerodynamic characteristics of a delta wing in the case of harmonic oscillations with respect to the roll and yaw angles are obtained in a subsonic low-speed wind tunnel and analyzed. It is shown that at near-critical angles of attack the aerodynamic derivatives of the roll moment considerably depend on the reduced oscillation frequency. It is established that this dependence is due to a variation in the slip angle. A mathematical model that involves an ordinary linear differential first-order equation is used to describe the aerodynamic characteristics of the wing for the problems of aircraft flight dynamics at high angles of attack.     

Influence of friction and asymmetric freeplay on the limit cycle oscillation in aeroelastic system: An extended Hénon’s technique to temporal integration

Nonlinear effects such as friction and freeplay on the control surfaces can affect aeroelastic dynamics during flight. In particular, these nonlinearities can induce limit cycle oscillations (LCO), changing the system stability, and because of this it is essential to employ computational methods to predict this type of motion during the aircraft development cycle. In this context, the present article presents a matrix notation for describing the Hénon’s method used to reduce errors when considering piecewise linear nonlinearities in the numerical integration process. In addition, a new coordinate system is used to write the aeroelastic system of equations. The proposal defines a displacement vector with generalized and physical variables to simplify the computational implementation of the Hénon’s technique. Additionally, the article discusses the influence of asymmetric freeplay and friction on the LCO of an airfoil with control surface. The results show that the extended Hénon’s technique provides more accurate LCO predictions, that friction can change the frequency and amplitude of these motions, and the asymmetry of freeplay is important to determine the LCO behavior.     

Direct flutter and limit cycle computations of highly flexible wings for efficient analysis and optimization

The usefulness of flutter as a design metric is diluted for wings with destabilizing (softening) nonlinearities, as a stable high-amplitude limit cycle (subcritical) may exist for flight speeds well below the flutter point. It is thus desired to design aeroelastic structures such that the post-flutter behavior is as benign (i.e., supercritical) as possible, among the other constraints commonly considered in the optimization process. In order to account for these metrics in an accurate and efficient manner, direct tools are utilized to first locate the Hopf-point (flutter speed), and then to obtain a nonlinear perturbation solution via the method of multiple scales. The latter scheme provides a scalar variable whose sign and magnitude dictate the nature of the limit cycle. The accuracy of these methods is demonstrated with a high-aspect-ratio highly flexible wing, modeled with nonlinear beam finite elements and the ONERA dynamic stall tool. Stiffness and inertial design variables are allowed to vary spatially throughout the wing, in order to conduct gradient-based optimization of the limit cycle under flutter and mass constraints. The resulting wing structure demonstrates strongly supercritical behavior, as well as several design conflicts between linear (flutter) and nonlinear (limit cycles) sensitivities, which are not present in the uniform baseline wing.     

Nonlinear dynamics of an aeroelastic airfoil with free-play in transonic flow

Nonlinear dynamic behaviors of an aeroelastic airfoil with free-play in transonic air flow are studied. The aeroelastic response is obtained by using time-marching approach with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and reduced order model (ROM) techniques. Several standardized tests of transonic flutter are presented to validate numerical approaches. It is found that in time-marching approach with CFD technique, the time-step size has a significant effect on the calculated aeroelastic response, especially for cases considering both structural and aerodynamic nonlinearities. The nonlinear dynamic behavior for the present model in transonic air flow is greatly different from that in subsonic regime where only simple harmonic oscillations are observed. Major features of the responses in transonic air flow at different flow speeds can be summarized as follows. The aeroelastic responses with the amplitude near the free-play are dominated by single degree of freedom flutter mechanism, and snap-though phenomenon can be observed when the air speed is low. The bifurcation diagram can be captured by using ROM technique, and it is observed that the route to chaos for the present model is via period-doubling, which is essentially caused by the free-play nonlinearity. When the flow speed approaches the linear flutter speed, the aeroelastic system vibrates with large amplitude, which is dominated by the aerodynamic nonlinearity. Effects of boundary layer and airfoil profile on the nonlinear responses of the aeroelastic system are also discussed.     

Nonlinear aeroservoelastic analysis of a controlled multiple-actuated-wing model with free-play

In this paper, the effects of structural nonlinearity due to free-play in both leading-edge and trailing-edge outboard control surfaces on the linear flutter control system are analyzed for an aeroelastic model of three-dimensional multiple-actuated-wing. The free-play nonlinearities in the control surfaces are modeled theoretically by using the fictitious mass approach. The nonlinear aeroelastic equations of the presented model can be divided into nine sub-linear modal-based aeroelastic equations according to the different combinations of deflections of the leading-edge and trailing-edge outboard control surfaces. The nonlinear aeroelastic responses can be computed based on these sub-linear aeroelastic systems. To demonstrate the effects of nonlinearity on the linear flutter control system, a single-input and single-output controller and a multi-input and multi-output controller are designed based on the unconstrained optimization techniques. The numerical results indicate that the free-play nonlinearity can lead to either limit cycle oscillations or divergent motions when the linear control system is implemented.     

Effects of actuator nonlinearity on aeroelastic characteristics of a control fin

The influences of actuator nonlinearities on actuator dynamics and the aeroelastic characteristics of a control fin were investigated by using iterative V-g methods in subsonic flows; in addition, the doublet-hybrid method (DHM) was used to calculate unsteady aerodynamic forces. The changes of actuator dynamics induced by nonlinearities, such as backlash or freeplay, and the variations of flutter boundaries due to the changes of actuator dynamics were observed. Results show that the aeroelastic characteristics can be significantly dependent on actuator dynamics. Thus, the actuator nonlinearities may play an important role in the nonlinear aeroelastic characteristics of an aeroelastic system. The present results also indicate that it is necessary to seriously consider the influence of actuator dynamics on the flutter characteristics at the design stage of actuators to prevent aeroelastic instabilities of aircraft or missiles.     

Reduced order nonlinear aeroelasticity of swept composite wings using compressible indicial unsteady aerodynamics

Nonlinear dynamic aeroelasticity of composite wings in compressible flows is investigated. To provide a reasonable model for the problem, the composite wing is modeled as a thin walled beam (TWB) with circumferentially asymmetric stiffness layup configuration. The structural model considers nonlinear strain displacement relations and a number of non-classical effects, such as transverse shear and warping inhibition. Geometrically nonlinear terms of up to third order are retained in the formulation. Unsteady aerodynamic loads are calculated according to a compressible model, described by indicial function approximations in the time domain. The aeroelastic system of equations is augmented by the differential equations governing the aerodynamics lag states to derive the final explicit form of the coupled fluid-structure equations of motion. The final nonlinear governing aeroelastic system of equations is solved using the eigenvectors of the linear structural equations of motion to approximate the spatial variation of the corresponding degrees of freedom in the Ritz solution method. Direct time integrations of the nonlinear equations of motion representing the full aeroelastic system are conducted using the well-known Runge–Kutta method. A comprehensive insight is provided over the effect of parameters such as the lamination fiber angle and the sweep angle on the stability margins and the limit cycle oscillation behavior of the system. Integration of the interpolation method employed for the evaluation of compressible indicial functions at any Mach number in the subsonic compressible range to the derivation process of the third order nonlinear aeroelastic system of equations based on TWB theory is done for the first time. Results show that flutter speeds obtained by the incompressible unsteady aerodynamics are not conservative and as the backward sweep angle of the wing is increased, post-flutter aeroelastic response of the wing becomes more well-behaved.     

Aeroelastic stability of a cantilevered plate in yawed subsonic flow

The aeroelastic stability of cantilevered plates with their clamped edge oriented both parallel and normal to subsonic flow is a classical fluid–structure interaction problem. When the clamped edge is parallel to the flow the system loses stability in a coupled bending and torsion motion known as wing flutter. When the clamped edge is normal to the flow the instability is exclusively bending and is referred to as flapping flag flutter. This paper explores the stability of plates during the transition between these classic aeroelastic configurations. The aeroelastic model couples a classical beam structural model to a three-dimensional vortex lattice aerodynamic model. The aeroelastic stability is evaluated in the frequency domain and the flutter boundary is presented as the plate is rotated from the flapping flag to the wing configuration. The transition between the flag-like and wing-like instability is often abrupt and the yaw angle of the flow for the transition is dependent on the relative spacing of the first torsion and second bending natural frequencies. This paper also includes ground vibration and aeroelastic experiments carried out in the Duke University Wind Tunnel that confirm the theoretical predictions.     

基于流形切空间插值的折叠翼参数化气动弹性建模

变体飞行器的气动弹性力学建模是当前先进飞行器设计的研究热点和难点. 然而传统的气动弹性动力学建模方法对于具有结构参变特性的变体飞行器气动弹性力学研究存在建模效率低、计算复杂等问题. 本研究提出了一种基于流形切空间插值的可折叠式变体机翼参数化气动弹性建模方法. 首先, 该方法建立若干个典型折叠角下的折叠翼结构有限元模型, 通过流形切空间插值方法建立折叠翼参数化结构动力学模型. 其次, 采用偶极子网格法得到参数化非定常气动力模型, 进而建立气动和结构相互耦合的折叠翼参数化气动弹性模型. 为了验证该参数化建模方法在折叠翼气动弹性分析中的准确性, 本文以一小展弦比折叠翼为研究对象, 从折叠翼自由振动时的参变模态特性、颤振边界预测两方面进行了算例验证, 并与直接计算方法进行了对比, 进一步验证了参数化气动弹性模型的有效性. 研究结果表明, 该参数化气动弹性模型对上述两类问题的计算精度与直接计算方法一致, 并且有着计算效率更高的优势.      

跨音速极限环型颤振的高效数值分析方法

事先建立一个低阶的非线性、非定常气动力模型是开展非线性流场中气动弹性问题研究的一个捷径. 基于CFD方法, 通过计算结构在流场中自激振动的响应来获得系统的训练数据. 采用带输出反馈的循环RBF神经网络, 建立时域非线性气动力降阶模型.耦合结构运动方程和非线性气动力降阶模型, 采用杂交的线性多步方法计算结构在不同速度(动压)下的响应历程, 从而获得模型极限环随速度(动压)变化的特性. 两个典型的跨音速极限环型颤振算例表明, 基于气动力降阶模型方法的计算结果与直接CFD仿真结果吻合很好, 与后者相比其将计算效率提高了1~2个数量级.      

CHAOTIC MOTIONS AND LIMIT CYCLE FLUTTER OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL WING IN SUPERSONIC FLOW

Based on the piston theory of supersonic flow and the energy method, the flutter motion equations of a two-dimensional wing with cubic stiffness in the pitching direction are established. The aeroelastic system contains both structural and aerodynamic nonlinearities. Hopf bifurcation theory is used to analyze the flutter speed of the system. The effects of system parameters on the flutter speed are studied. The 4th order Runge-Kutta method is used to calculate the stable limit cycle responses and chaotic motions of the aeroelastic system. Results show that the number and the stability of equilibrium points of the system vary with the increase of flow speed. Besides the simple limit cycle response of period 1, there are also period-doubling responses and chaotic motions in the flutter system. The route leading to chaos in the aeroelastic model used here is the period-doubling bifurcation. The chaotic motions in the system occur only when the flow speed is higher than the linear divergent speed and the initial condition is very small. Moreover, the flow speed regions in which the system behaves chaos axe very narrow.