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Mihnea Sandu

- UNIVERSITATEA TEHNICA DE CONSTRUCTII BUCURESTI

Researcher | Teaching staff

Expertise & keywords

ANTIFLUTTER DEMONSTRATOR WITH PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATION Call name: Joint Applied Research Projects - PCCA 2013 - call
PN-II-PT-PCCA-2013-4-2006 2014 - 2017

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE-DEZVOLTARE AEROSPATIALA "ELIE CARAFOLI" - I.N.C.A.S. BUCURESTI

Project partners: INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE-DEZVOLTARE AEROSPATIALA "ELIE CARAFOLI" - I.N.C.A.S. BUCURESTI (RO); UNIVERSITATEA POLITEHNICA DIN BUCURESTI (RO); INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE-DEZVOLTARE TURBOMOTOARE - COMOTI (RO); STRAERO-(INSTITUTUL PENTRU CALCULUL SI EXPERIMENTAREA STRUCTURILOR AERO-ASTRONAUTICE) S.A. (RO); UNIVERSITATEA TEHNICA DE CONSTRUCTII BUCURESTI (RO); INAV S.A. (RO); ENERGOREPARATII SERV SA (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA TEHNICA DE CONSTRUCTII BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: http://www.incas.ro/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=384&Itemid=69

Abstract:

This project will develop an advanced system for active flutter and vibration control and gust alleviation for critical aerospace applications. Flutter is a critical phenomenon of unstable structural vibration occurring without warning when a critical flight speed is exceeded and may lead to flight accidents and loss of lives. Gust is a dynamic aeroelastic phenomenon resulting in excessive fatigue and vibration that shortens the aircraft life and may lead to unpredicted failures. Our proposed Antiflutter Demonstrator with Piezoelectric Actuation (AFDPA) system will prevent these critical phenomena by applying advanced control laws and algorithms based on the Maximal Lyapunov Exponent (MLE) methodology. The implementation of this active flutter and vibration control approach will be done through the use of high-bandwidth piezoelectric actuation embedded into a “smart wing” design that will be able to respond with great speed and precision to the MLE controller and thus prevent in flight accidents. The AFDPA team (INCAS, ROMAERO, UPB, COMOTI, STRAERO, UTCB, INAV) is uniquely positioned to perform this research because INCAS technical staff, in collaboration with experts from the other team members, has unmatched expertise and there is no other team in Romania and even South Eastern Europe that could perform this challenging project.

The idea of flutter vibration active control and gust alleviation is not historically new but the technological enablers for implementation have only recently become available through induced-strain actuated smart structures using piezoelectric active materials. The literature reports several concepts of smart-materials active vibration control of helicopter rotor blades, some of them even built and flight tested. However, there are almost no similar results for fixed wing aircraft; this is due to the more difficult challenges posed by the fixed-wing smart-structures aeroelastic applications, i.e., greater torsional wing stiffness, larger aerodynamic forces, and greater required deflections, difficult to overcome with conventional piezoelectric actuators. In this project, we are going to address this challenge by applying the theory of maximum energy extraction from induced-strain actuation in the presence of stroke amplification and kinematic linear-to-rotary conversion. We will aim at achieving efficient stroke conversion from linear to rotary with optimum energy transduction and maximum efficiency through an innovative kinematic analysis and design coupled with advanced modeling of the unsteady aerodynamic forces. In the proposed project, we will utilize the servo-tab concept that uses aerodynamic forces to obtain control surface deflections with fractional actuation force. However, the use of servo-tabs with unsteady aerodynamics requires very fast (high bandwidth) actuation and controller since otherwise the system may go unstable. Our proposed piezo actuation solutions will ensure the required bandwidth whereas the MLE controller will assure avoidance of unstable feedback situations. We will also develop a simpler smart flap solution where the piezoactuation is applied directly to the flap through an adequate linear-to-rotary stroke amplifier. Both solutions will be implemented into a smart wing wind tunnel model that will be extensively tested and analyzed. Essential for the project success are the MLE controller algorithms.

The outcome of the proposed project will be a methodology and experimental confirmation of a smart-wing solution for flutter vibration control and gust alleviation, that will enable aircraft to fly faster and more efficiently in turbulent atmosphere under adverse weather conditions. The effective collaboration of Romanian research institutions, academia, and industry will ensure a high technology readiness level (TRL) of the project results with high chances of industrial implementation and patentable innovation.

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List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects