Improvement of Aircraft Aerodynamic Performance Using Piezoelectric Actuators

Abstract

To flight vehicle designer, the ability to adapt air vehicle aerodynamic shape so as to increase the optimum flight envelope is highly desirable. In this work, by distributing piezoelectric actuators on the top and bottom surfaces of a rectangular wing, the improvement of aerodynamic performance of flight vehicle is studied. The approach of the Fictitious Control Surface (FCS) is evaluated at a group of dynamic pressure and wing stiffness, through examining four aspects including the improvement of rolling power, the increase of lift, the decrease of the induced drag and the decrease of the bending moment at root of wing. Then an experimental model of high-speed wind tunnel is designed in order to validate the results of theoretical analysis. The ground tests and wind tunnel tests demonstrate that the lift and rolling moment can be increased by using the favorable aeroelastic effect. And quantificationally the experimental results agree well with the analytical results.