Optimal Wing Planform Design for Aeroelastic Control

An integrated aeroservoelastic design synthesis for flutter suppression and gust load reduction using multiple control surfaces is presented. For this multidisciplinary optimization procedure, structural design variables, control system, and aerodynamic design variables, such as wing planform, ply orientation of the composite layer, and control surface size and location, are considered simultaneously. The analysis for a composite wing with control surfaces is conducted by the finite element method. Unsteady aerodynamic forces calculated by the doublet lattice method are approximated as transfer functions of the Laplace variable by Roger's method. The output feedback control scheme is applied to design the active control system. Using a swept wing model, the performance of the control system is investigated. The geometry of wing planform and control surface size and location are determined by using the genetic algorithm. Design objectives are to minimize the control performance index and the root mean square of the gust responses for various airspeeds. Numerical results showed substantial improvements in performance index value as well as the root-mean-square values of the gust responses compared with the baseline wing model.