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At least 217 records · Page 12

Active control of aircraft engine inlet noise using compact sound sources and distributed error sensors

An active noise control system using a compact sound source is effective to reduce aircraft engine duct noise. The fan noise from a turbofan engine is controlled using an adaptive filtered-x LMS algorithm. Single multi channel control systems are used to control the fan blade passage frequency (BPF) tone and the BPF tone and the first harmonic of the BPF tone for a plane wave excitation. A multi channel control system is used to control any spinning mode. The multi channel control system to control both fan tones and a high pressure compressor BPF tone simultaneously. In order to make active control of turbofan inlet noise a viable technology, a compact sound source is employed to generate the control field. This control field sound source consists of an array of identical thin, cylindrically curved panels with an inner radius of curvature corresponding to that of the engine inlet. These panels are flush mounted inside the inlet duct and sealed on all edges to prevent leakage around the panel and to minimize the aerodynamic losses created by the addition of the panels. Each panel is driven by one or more piezoelectric force transducers mounted on the surface of the panel. The response of the panel to excitation is maximized when it is driven at its resonance; therefore, the panel is designed such that its fundamental frequency is near the tone to be canceled, typically 2000-4000 Hz.

Burdisso, Ricardo↗

Active control of aircraft engine inlet noise using compact sound sources and distributed error sensors

An active noise control system using a compact sound source is effective to reduce aircraft engine duct noise. The fan noise from a turbofan engine is controlled using an adaptive filtered-x LMS algorithm. Single multi channel control systems are used to control the fan blade passage frequency (BPF) tone and the BPF tone and the first harmonic of the BPF tone for a plane wave excitation. A multi channel control system is used to control any spinning mode. The multi channel control system to control both fan tones and a high pressure compressor BPF tone simultaneously. In order to make active control of turbofan inlet noise a viable technology, a compact sound source is employed to generate the control field. This control field sound source consists of an array of identical thin, cylindrically curved panels with an inner radius of curvature corresponding to that of the engine inlet. These panels are flush mounted inside the inlet duct and sealed on all edges to prevent leakage around the panel and to minimize the aerodynamic losses created by the addition of the panels. Each panel is driven by one or more piezoelectric force transducers mounted on the surface of the panel. The response of the panel to excitation is maximized when it is driven at its resonance; therefore, the panel is designed such that its fundamental frequency is near the tone to be canceled, typically 2000-4000 Hz.

Burdisso, Ricardo↗

Active controls for flutter suppression and gust alleviation in supersonic aircraft

Results of work done on active controls on the modified YF-17 flutter model are summarized. The basic derivation of a suitable control law is discussed. It is shown that discrepencies found between analysis and wind tunnel tests originate from the lack of proper implementation of the desired control law. Program capabilities are described.

Nissim, E.↗

Active control of robot manipulator compliance

Work performed at Catholic University on the research grant entitled Active Control of Robot Manipulator Compliance, supported by NASA/Goddard space Flight Center during the period of May 15th, 1986 to November 15th, 1986 is described. The modelling of the two-degree-of-freedom robot is first presented. Then the complete system including the robot and the hybrid controller is simulated on an IBM-XT Personal Computer. Simulation results showed that proper adjustments of controller gains enable the robot to perform successful operations. Further research should focus on developing a guideline for the controller gain design to achieve system stability.

Nguyen, C. C.↗

Digital active control law synthesis for aeroservoelastic systems

This paper presents a formulation for synthesis of digital active control laws for aeroservoelastic systems, which are typically modeled by large order equations in order to accurately represent the rigid and flexible body modes, unsteady aerodynamic forces, actuator dynamics, and gust spectra. The control law is expected to satisfy multiple design requirements on the dynamic loads, responses, actuator deflection and rate limitations, as well as maintain certain stability margins, yet should be simple enough to be implemented by an onboard digital microprocessor. The synthesis procedure minimizes a linear quadratic Gaussian type cost function, by updating selected free parameters of the control law, while satisfying a set of inequality constraints on the design loads, responses and stability margins. A stable classical control law or an estimator based full or reduced order control law can be used as an initial design starting point. The gradients of the cost function and the constraints, with respect to the digital control law design variables are derived analytically, to facilitate rapid convergence. Selected design responses can be treated as constraints instead of lumping them into the cost function, in order to satisfy individual root-mean-square load and response limitations. Constraints are also imposed on the minimum singular value requirements for stability robustness improvement.

Mukhopadhyay, Vivekananda↗

Active control of sound transmission through stiff lightweight composite fuselage constructions

Work was performed on the active control of sound transmission in composite structures. First, a model was outlined of a vibrating plate with arbitrary boundary conditions. Second, the far field was minimized to radiate acoustic power using secondary force inputs. Third, a model of a simple case of freely mounted stiff lightweight panels was used. Fourth, experimental results for aluminum honeycomb composite panels is presented. Fifth, experimental results are presented for the combination of a clamped steel plate and an aluminum honeycomb panel with secondary forces acting between the partitions. Finally, experimental results for the combination of a clamped steel plate with four secondary aluminum honeycomb panels is presented. All materials are shown in viewgraph format.

Thomas, D. R.↗

Contributions of the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel to the Testing of Active Control of Aeroelastic Response

By the 1960s, researchers began to investigate the feasibility of using active controls technology (ACT) for increasing the capabilities of military and commercial aircraft. Since then many researchers, too numerous to mention, have investigated and demonstrated the usefulness of ACT for favorably modifying the aeroelastic response characteristics of flight vehicles. As a result, ACT entered the limelight as a viable tool for answering some very difficult design questions and had the potential for obtaining structural weight reductions optimizing maneuvering performance, and satisfying the multimission requirements being imposed on future military and commercial aircraft designs. Over the past 40 years, the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has played a major role in developing ACT in part by its participation in many wind-tunnel programs conducted in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). These programs were conducted for the purposes of: (1) establishing concept feasibility; (2) demonstrating proof of concept; and (3) providing data for validating new modeling, analysis, and design methods. This paper provides an overview of the ACT investigations conducted in the TDT. For each program discussed herein, the objectives of the effort, the testing techniques, the test results, any, signIficant findings, and the lessons learned with respect to ACT testing are presented.

Perry, Boyd, III↗

Active control of sound fields in elastic cylinders by vibrational inputs

An experiment is performed to study the mechanisms of active control of sound fields in elastic cylinders via vibrational outputs. In the present method of control, a vibrational force input was used as the secondary control input to reduce the radiated acoustic field. For the frequencies considered, the active vibration technique provided good global reduction of interior sound even though only one actuator was used.

Jones, J. D.↗

Nanomechanics of Actively Controlled Deployable Optics

This document is the interim, annual report for the research grant entitled "Nanomechanics of Actively Controlled Deployed Optics." It is supported by NASA Langley Research Center Cooperative Agreement NCC-1 -281. Dr. Mark S. Lake is the technical monitor of the research program. This document reports activities for the year 1998, beginning 3/11/1998, and for the year 1999. The objective of this report is to summarize the results and the status of this research. This summary appears in Section 2.0. Complete details of the results of this research have been reported in several papers, publications and theses. Section 3.0 lists these publications and, when available, presents their abstracts. Each publication is available in electronic form from a web site identified in Section 3.0.

Peterson, Lee D.↗

Reduction of Model Complexity by Active Control

The mathematical models of many dynamic systems of interest in the aerospace industry are inherently complex and of high order. Rather than grapple with the full-complexity models for such systems, the control designers often elect to derive low-order, reduced-complexity models for which a control system can be designed. The subject of model-order reduction has received a significant amount of attention in control engineering literature. This paper describes and demonstrates a novel active-control methodology that can be used to design a control system that automatically forces the original system to behave like a chosen reduced-complexity model by treating the effects of the original complexity-related terms as disturbances acting on the reduced-complexity system. The method is demonstrated by several worked examples involving both linear and nonlinear systems, supported by simulation results.

Bukley, Angelia P.↗

Active Control of Rotating Stall Demonstrated for a Multistage Compressor With Inlet Distortion

Aircraft compressors can suffer debilitating consequences as a result of rotating stall and surge events caused by inlet distortions. This is particularly true of aircraft during takeoff, when the compressor is operating at peak performance close to the surge line. Significant research has been conducted by the NASA Glenn Research Center in the area of compressor stability enhancement through active and passive control methods. Most recently, an experiment was conducted at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base Research Laboratory on a two-stage fan with inlet guide vanes and inlet distortion. In this joint Small Business Innovation Research effort between Scientific Systems and Glenn, control of rotating stall was demonstrated in a multistage transonic fan. This twostage fan with inlet guide vanes was tested under clean and distorted inlet conditions. The compressor was also configured with a circumferential distortion screen capable of 180 of distortion and with 14 high-velocity injectors upstream of the first rotor. Twelve of these injectors could oscillate up to frequencies of 450 Hz. The additional two injectors were located next to each other and were used in concert with each other as a single, on/off, high-authority actuator. In a first test of injection in this multistage environment, 12 of the valves were opened 50 percent of their full stroke to assess steady injection through the compressor. This baseline injection is shown in the compressor characteristic of the following figure, and stall margin improvements are tracked from this baseline condition. The compressor was then tested with clean inlet conditions using 12 injectors and active control. Pressure disturbances were tracked before rotating stall, and a constant gain control scheme reduced the stalling mass flow by 10.8 percent over the baseline. With the distortion screen present in the inlet, a pole-zero cancellation control scheme was used to achieve a 6.4-percent decrease in stalling mass flow. These improvements also are shown in the figure. In a final experiment, actively controlled, high-frequency injection from the 12 valves was used in conjunction with the high-authority actuators. In this test, the stalling mass flow of the compressor was reduced by 27 percent as indicated in the graph. These results were obtained by injecting less than 2 percent of the total compressor throughflow into the rotor tip region via 14 injection ports. These results mark the first successful demonstration of actively controlled air injection as a stall-control strategy for multistage compressors operating at speeds typical of an actual gas turbine engine. A goal of continuing research is to determine the combination of air-injection parameters and control strategies that are most effective in providing stall control for both clean and distorted inlet flow conditions for multistage environments. Other goals include the demonstration of stall control at many locations along the core compressor and development and application of active stall control strategies that will be integral flightworthy components of onboard engine hardware.

VanSchalkwyk, Christian↗

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) Technology to an Advanced Subsonic Transport: Project Plan

The state of the art of active controls technology (ACT) and a recommended ACT development program plan are reviewed. The performance benefits and cost of ownership of an integrated application of ACT to civil transport aircraft is to be assessed along with the risk and laboratory and/or flight experiments designed to reduce the technical risks to a commercially acceptable level.

Source record↗

Active Control of Instabilities in Laminar Boundary-Layer Flow: Use of Sensors and Spectral Controller - Part 2

This study focuses on the suppression of instability growth using an automated active-control technique. The evolution of 2D disturbances that are spatially growing in a flat-plate boundary layer are computed with a spatial DNS code. A controller receives wall sensor information (pressure or shear) as input and provides a signal that controls an actuator response as output. The control law assumes that wave cancellation is valid. The results indicate that a measure of wave cancellation can be obtained for small- and large-amplitude instabilities without feedback; however, feedback is required to optimize the control amplitude and phase for exact wave cancellation.

Joslin, Ronald D.↗

Modeling and Validation of a Navy A6-Intruder Actively Controlled Landing Gear System

Concepts for long-range air travel are characterized by airframe designs with long, slender, relatively flexible fuselages. One aspect often overlooked is ground-induced vibration of these aircraft. This paper presents an analytical and experimental study of reducing ground-induced aircraft vibration loads by using actively controlled landing gear. A facility has been developed to test various active landing gear control concepts and their performance, The facility uses a Navy A6 Intruder landing gear fitted with an auxiliary hydraulic supply electronically controlled by servo valves. An analytical model of the gear is presented, including modifications to actuate the gear externally, and test data are used to validate the model. The control design is described and closed-loop test and analysis comparisons are presented.

Horta, Lucas G.↗

Actively Controlled Landing Gear for Aircraft Vibration Reduction

Concepts for long-range air travel are characterized by airframe designs with long, slender, relatively flexible fuselages. One aspect often overlooked is ground induced vibration of these aircraft. This paper presents an analytical and experimental study of reducing ground-induced aircraft vibration loads using actively controlled landing gears. A facility has been developed to test various active landing gear control concepts and their performance. The facility uses a NAVY A6-intruder landing gear fitted with an auxiliary hydraulic supply electronically controlled by servo valves. An analytical model of the gear is presented including modifications to actuate the gear externally and test data is used to validate the model. The control design is described and closed-loop test and analysis comparisons are presented.

Horta, Lucas G.↗

NASA Ames Active Control Aircraft flight experiments (ACA) program

The objectives of the Ames ACA program are to develop the active control technology (ACT) for short-haul aircraft, to evaluate existing methods, to develop new techniques, and to demonstrate the readiness of the technology in operational environment. Two concepts are basic to ACT: integrated aircraft design and integrated flight-control-system design.

Meyer, G.↗