Controlling Buffeting Loads by Rudder and Piezo-Actuation

High performance aircraft, especially those with twin vertical tails, encounter unsteady buffet loads when flying at high angles of attack. These stochastic loads result in significant stresses, which may cause fatigue damage leading to restricted capabilities and availability of the aircraft. An international collaborative research activity among Australia, Canada and the United States, conducted under the auspices of The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) contributed resources toward a program that coalesced a broad range of technical knowledge and expertise into a single investigation to demonstrate the enhanced performance and capability of the advanced active Buffet Load Alleviation ( ) control system in preparation for a flight test demonstration. The research team investigated the use of active structural control to alleviate the damaging structural response to these loads by applying advanced directional piezoelectric actuators, the aircraft rudder, switch mode amplifiers, and advanced control strategies on an F/A-18 aircraft empennage. Some results of the full-scale investigation are presented herein.