Active Flutter Suppression Controllers Derived from Linear and Nonlinear Aerodynamics: Application to a Transport Aircraft Model

Active flutter suppression has been demonstrated in simulation by many researchers, generally using methods based on linear aerodynamics and often with simplistic geometries. In this paper, active flutter suppression is demonstrated in a simulation using a Navier-Stokes aerodynamics code, FUN3D (Fully Unstructured Navier-Stokes Three-Dimensional), and a realistic transport aircraft configuration. This is accomplished using simple observer-feedback controllers derived from linear aeroelastic models, including reduced order models built via FUN3D data. The development of these reduced order models is described here. It is shown that controllers derived from reduced order models of the nonlinear aerodynamics outperform controllers based on linear aerodynamics.