Adaptive control of a nonlinear aeroelastic system

Aeroelastic two-dimensional wing section with both trailing-edge (TE) and leading-edge (LE) was investigated in this paper through numerical simulation in time domain. Structural stiffness and damping in pitch degree of freedom were represented by nonlinear polynomials. Open-loop limit cycle oscillation (LCO) characters of two examples were studied, and flutter boundaries with initial conditions were obtained. Parametric uncertainties in both pitch stiffness and damping were considered in the design of adaptive control laws to depress LCOs. Firstly an adaptive controller based on partial feedback linearization was derived for the wing section with a single TE control surface. Secondly a structured model reference adaptive control law was designed for the aeroelastic system with both TE and LE control surfaces. The results show that the designed control laws are effective for flutter suppression, and that considering damping uncertainty has positive effect on flutter control. It may reduce convergent time or increase flutter speed.