Modeling of Active Aeroservoelastic Systems

Abstract

This thesis demonstrates the synthesis and testing of a physics-based aeroservoelastic mathematical model for a flexible wind tunnel model. Ground vibration testing of the wind tunnel model is detailed herein. An aeroservoelastic mathematical model was synthesized for the wind tunnel model from a finite-element analysis and first principles. The wind tunnel model's structural dynamic, aerodynamic, and actuator models were coupled together into a linear time-invariant state-space model. The wind tunnel model's frequency response was measured experimentally at the University of Washington's 3x3 low-speed wind tunnel. The frequency response was used to adjust the mathematical model to account for physical phenomena which were not well captured by the initial model. Results show that the updated mathematical model is better able to capture the relevant physics and responses of the wind tunnel model. The results of this study can be used as the baseline for further system identification or for aeroservoelastic control law design.