Analysis of a Flutter Suppression System for an Efficiently Designed UAV

With a market for Unmanned Aerial Aircrafts (UAV) exploding and in an age were composite materials are used to construct light and flexible structures it is of importance to have the knowledge of how the choiceof material and model of plane will act together. UAV missions can varywith different flying conditions and loads and with high launching costs for satellites and the increasing amount of space debris, long endurance, high altitude UAVs might come to replace some of the functions that were previously handled by satellites. This thesis will study the influence of aeroelastic effects on an electric flexible tailless flying wing design UAV.A flying wing is chosen due to its efficiency, since less control surfaces means less drag and are therefore suitable for long endurance missions. Endurance of such plane can be enhanced by fitting of equipment such as piezo electric devices and solar panels. Different design options consists of, for example, choosing the optimum location of the center of gravity and the use of morphing control surfaces instead of conventional hinged ones. Due to lack of longitudinal stability compared to a conventional aircraft, aeroelastic effects such as flutter will have large consequences to the whole plane instead of just the wings. Long slender wings means lessdrag but more flexibility. Therefore, a flutter suppression system is the key to reach higher speeds with more efficient designs. Other aeroelastic effects such as divergence and control reversal also requires investigation since these effects cannot be suppressed and can have critical effects on the plane. Since UAVs are remote controlled, a flight control system (FCS) is often used in order to have it fly autonomous and stable during different maneuvers. Therefore a aero-servo-elastic analysis will be made to test the interaction between a FCS with the aeroelastic effects. The analysis may show whether it would be possible to suppress flutter and how themodel handles wind gusts and turbulence.Validerat; 20150915 (global_studentproject_submitter