Control of Oscillations of a Wing Subjected to 3D Unsteady Subsonic Aerodynamic Loads Using Piezoelectric Actuators

In the recent years, using piezoelectric material as sensors and actuators has drawn significant attention in vibration analysis and control of structures. In the present paper, bonded piezoelectric sensors and actuators have been used to control the aeroelastic oscillations of a cantilever wing under the effects of three-dimensional unsteady subsonic aerodynamic loading. An aerodynamic model using a numerical panel method is developed and validated to calculate the three-dimensional unsteady aerodynamic loading and finite element formulation is applied to model the wing structure as a cantilever plate undergoing small transverse oscillations. The structural and aerodynamic models are combined to simulate the aeroelastic oscillations and interchange the data simultaneously. An active feedback control method to suppress the oscillations is presented and investigated. Finally, an analysis is performed to examine the effects of actuator placement on the wing surface in suppression of oscillations.