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Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering

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search.filters.applied.f.advisor: Hodges, Dewey H. × End date: 2009 × Start date: 2000 × Has files: Yes × search.filters.applied.f.isOrgUnitOfPublicationTitle: College of Engineering × search.filters.applied.f.resourcesubtype: Dissertation ×

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 11
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Modeling spanwise nonuniformity in the cross-sectional analysis of composite beams

2009-06-30 , Ho, Jimmy Cheng-Chung

Spanwise nonuniformity effects are modeled in the cross-sectional analysis of beam theory. This modeling adheres to an established numerical framework on cross-sectional analysis of uniform beams with arbitrary cross-sections. This framework is based on two concepts: decomposition of the rotation tensor and the variational-asymptotic method. Allowance of arbitrary materials and geometries in the cross-section is from discretization of the warping field by finite elements. By this approach, dimensional reduction from three-dimensional elasticity is performed rigorously and the sectional strain energy is derived to be asymptotically-correct. Elastic stiffness matrices are derived for inputs into the global beam analysis. Recovery relations for the displacement, stress, and strain fields are also derived with care to be consistent with the energy. Spanwise nonuniformity effects appear in the form of pointwise and sectionwise derivatives, which are approximated by finite differences. The formulation also accounts for the effects of spanwise variations in initial twist and/or curvature. A linearly tapered isotropic strip is analyzed to demonstrate spanwise nonuniformity effects on the cross-sectional analysis. The analysis is performed analytically by the variational-asymptotic method. Results from beam theory are validated against solutions from plane stress elasticity. These results demonstrate that spanwise nonuniformity effects become significant as the rate at which the cross-sections vary increases. The modeling of transverse shear modes of deformation is accomplished by transforming the strain energy into generalized Timoshenko form. Approximations in this transformation procedure from previous works, when applied to uniform beams, are identified. The approximations are not used in the present work so as to retain more accuracy. Comparison of present results with those previously published shows that these approximations sometimes change the results measurably and thus are inappropriate. Static and dynamic results, from the global beam analysis, are calculated to show the differences between using stiffness constants from previous works and the present work. As a form of validation of the transformation procedure, calculations from the global beam analysis of initially twisted isotropic beams from using curvilinear coordinate axes featuring twist are shown to be equivalent to calculations using Cartesian coordinates.

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Dynamic Variational Asymptotic Procedure for Laminated Composite Shells

2007-06-25 , Lee, Chang-Yong

Unlike published shell theories, the main two parts of this thesis are devoted to the asymptotic construction of a refined theory for composite laminated shells valid over a wide range of frequencies and wavelengths. The resulting theory is applicable to shells each layer of which is made of materials with monoclinic symmetry. It enables one to analyze shell dynamic responses within both long-wavelength, low- and high-frequency vibration regimes. It also leads to energy functionals that are both positive definiteness and sufficient simplicity for all wavelengths. This whole procedure was first performed analytically. From the insight gained from the procedure, a finite element version of the analysis was then developed; and a corresponding computer program, DVAPAS, was developed. DVAPAS can obtain the generalized 2-D constitutive law and recover accurately the 3-D results for stress and strain in composite shells. Some independent works will be needed to develop the corresponding 2-D surface analysis associated with the present theory and to continue towards full verification and validation of the present process by comparison with available published works.

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Vibration and Aeroelastic Analysis of Highly Flexible HALE Aircraft

2006-11-20 , Chang, Chong-Seok

The highly flexible HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) aircraft analysis methodology is of interest because early studies indicated that HALE aircraft might have different vibration and aeroelastic characteristics from those of conventional aircraft. Recently the computer code Nonlinear Aeroelastic Trim And Stability of HALE Aircraft (NATASHA) was developed and used to the flight dynamics and aeroelastic analysis of flying wing HALE aircraft. Further analysis improvements were required to extend its capability to the ground vibration test (GVT) environment and to both GVT and aeroelastic behavior of HALE aircraft with other configurations. First, the geometrically exact fully intrinsic beam theory was extended to treat other aircraft configurations modeled as an assembly of beam elements. It includes auxiliary elevator input in the horizontal tail and fuselage aerodynamics. Second, the methodology was extended to treat the GVT environment to provide modal characteristics for model validation. A newly developed bungee formulation is coupled to the intrinsic beam formulation for the GVT modeling. After the coupling procedures, the whole formulation cannot be fully intrinsic because the geometric constraint by bungee cords makes the system statically indeterminant. Third, because many HALE aircraft are propeller driven, the methodology was extended to include an engine/nacelle/propeller system using a two-degree-of-freedom model. This step was undertaken to predict a dynamic instability called ``whirl flutter," which can be exhibited in such HALE aircrafts. For simplicity, two fundamental assumptions are made: constant approximation on the propeller aerodynamics and the use of equivalent three-bladed counterpart for two-bladed propeller system to obviate the need for Floquet theory. The validity of these assumptions is verified by investigating the periodic effect of side forces and hub moments and the periodic inertia effect. Finally, parametric studies show how the current methodology can be utilized as a unified preliminary analysis tool for the vibration and aeroelastic analysis of highly flexible HALE aircraft.

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Multi-flexible-body analysis for applications to wind turbine control design

2003-12-01 , Lee, Donghoon

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Enhancement of roll maneuverability using post-reversal design

2009-06-22 , Li, Wei-En

This dissertation consists of three main parts. The first part is to discuss aileron reversal problem for a typical section with linear aerodynamic and structural analysis. The result gives some insight and ideas for this aeroelastic problem. Although the aileron in its post-reversal state will work the opposite of its design, this type of phenomenon as a design root should not be ruled out on these grounds alone, as current active flight-control systems can compensate for this. Moreover, one can get considerably more (negative) lift for positive flap angle in this unusual regime than positive lift for positive flap angle in the more conventional setting. This may have important implications for development of highly maneuverable aircraft. The second part is to involve the nonlinear aerodynamic and structural analyses into the aileron reversal problem. Two models, a uniform cantilevered lifting surface and a rolling aircraft with rectangular wings, are investigated here. Both models have trailing-edge control surfaces attached to the main wings. A configuration that reverses at a relatively low dynamic pressure and flies with the enhanced controls at a higher level of effectiveness is demonstrated. To evaluate how reliable for the data from XFOIL, the data for the wing-aileron system from advanced CFD codes and experiment are used to compare with that from XFOIL. To enhance rolling maneuverability for an aircraft, the third part is to search for the optimal configuration during the post-reversal regime from a design point of view. Aspect ratio, hinge location, airfoil dimension, inner structure of wing section, composite skin, aeroelastic tailoring, and airfoil selection are investigated for cantilevered wing and rolling aircraft models, respectively. Based on these parametric structural designs as well as the aerodynamic characteristics of different airfoils, recommendations are given to expand AAW flight program.

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A Hybrid Optimization Scheme for Helicopters with Composite Rotor Blades

2007-05-18 , Ku, Jieun

Rotorcraft optimization is a challenging problem due to its conflicting requirements among many disciplines and highly coupled design variables affecting the overall design. Also, the design process for a composite rotor blade is often ambiguous because of its design space. Furthermore, analytical tools do not produce acceptable results compared with flight test when it comes to aerodynamics and aeroelasticity unless realistic models are used, which leads to excessive computer time per iteration. To comply these requirements, computationally efficient yet realistic tools for rotorcraft analysis, such as VABS and DYMORE were used as analysis tools. These tools decompose a three-dimensional problem into a two-dimensional cross-sectional and a one-dimensional beam analysis. Also, to eliminate the human interaction between iterations, a previously VABS-ANSYS macro was modified and automated. The automated tool shortened the computer time needed to generate the VABS input file for each analysis from hours to seconds. MATLAB was used as the wrapper tool to integrate VABS, DYMORE and the VABS-ANSYS macro into the methodology. This methodology uses Genetic Algorithm and gradient-based methods as optimization schemes. The baseline model is the rotor system of generic Georgia Tech Helicopter (GTH), which is a three-bladed, soft-in-plane, bearingless rotor system. The resulting methodology is a two-level optimization, global and local. Previous studies showed that when stiffnesses are used as design variables in optimization, these values act as if they are independent and produce design requirements that cannot be achieved by local-level optimization. To force design variables at the global level to stay within the feasible design space of the local level, a surrogate model was adapted into the methodology. For the surrogate model, different ``design of experiments" (DOE) methods were tested to find the most computationally efficient DOE method. The response surface method (RSM) and Kriging were tested for the optimization problem. The results show that using the surrogate model speeds up the optimization process and the Kriging model shows superior performance over RSM models. As a result, the global-level optimizer produces requirements that the local optimizer can achieve.

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Effect of Follower Forces on Aeroelastic Stability of Flexible Structures

2004-07-09 , Chae, Seungmook

Missile bodies and wings are typical examples of structures that can be represented by beam models. Such structures, loaded by follower forces along with aerodynamics, exhibit the vehicle's aeroelastic instabilities. The current research integrates a nonlinear beam dynamics and unsteady aerodynamics to conduct aeroelastic studies of missile bodies and wings subjected to follower forces. The structural formulations are based on a geometrically-exact, mixed finite element method. Slender-body theory and thin-airfoil theory are used for the missile aerodynamics, and two-dimensional finite-state unsteady aerodynamics is used for wing aerodynamics. The aeroelastic analyses are performed using time-marching scheme for the missile body stability, and eigenvalue analysis for the wing flutter, respectively. Results from the time-marching formulation agree with published results for dynamic stability and show the development of limit cycle oscillations for disturbed flight near and above the critical thrust. Parametric studies of the aeroelastic behavior of specific flexible missile configurations are presented, including effects of flexibility on stability, limit-cycle amplitudes, and missile loads. The results do yield a significant interaction between the thrust, which is a follower force, and the aeroelastic stability. Parametric studies based on the eigenvalue analysis for the wing flutter, show that the predicted stability boundaries are very sensitive to the ratio of bending stiffness to torsional stiffness. The effect of thrust can be either stabilizing or destabilizing, depending on the value of this parameter. An assessment whether or not the magnitude of thrust needed to influence the flutter speed is practical is made for one configuration. The flutter speed is shown to change by 11% for this specific wing configuration.

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Structural design of composite rotor blades with consideration of manufacturability, durability, and manufacturing uncertainties

2008-07-02 , Li, Leihong

A modular structural design methodology for composite blades is developed. This design method can be used to design composite rotor blades with sophisticate geometric cross-sections. This design method hierarchically decomposed the highly-coupled interdisciplinary rotor analysis into global and local levels. In the global level, aeroelastic response analysis and rotor trim are conduced based on multi-body dynamic models. In the local level, variational asymptotic beam sectional analysis methods are used for the equivalent one-dimensional beam properties. Compared with traditional design methodology, the proposed method is more efficient and accurate. Then, the proposed method is used to study three different design problems that have not been investigated before. The first is to add manufacturing constraints into design optimization. The introduction of manufacturing constraints complicates the optimization process. However, the design with manufacturing constraints benefits the manufacturing process and reduces the risk of violating major performance constraints. Next, a new design procedure for structural design against fatigue failure is proposed. This procedure combines the fatigue analysis with the optimization process. The durability or fatigue analysis employs a strength-based model. The design is subject to stiffness, frequency, and durability constraints. Finally, the manufacturing uncertainty impacts on rotor blade aeroelastic behavior are investigated, and a probabilistic design method is proposed to control the impacts of uncertainty on blade structural performance. The uncertainty factors include dimensions, shapes, material properties, and service loads.

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Relating Constrained Motion to Force Through Newton's Second Law

2007-04-06 , Roithmayr, Carlos

When a mechanical system is subject to constraints its motion is in some way restricted. In accordance with Newton's second law, motion is a direct result of forces acting on a system; hence, constraint is inextricably linked to force. The presence of a constraint implies the application of particular forces needed to compel motion in accordance with the constraint; absence of a constraint implies the absence of such forces. The objective of this thesis is to formulate a comprehensive, consistent, and concise method for identifying a set of forces needed to constrain the behavior of a mechanical system modeled as a set of particles and rigid bodies. The goal is accomplished in large part by expressing constraint equations in vector form rather than entirely in terms of scalars. The method developed here can be applied whenever constraints can be described at the acceleration level by a set of independent equations that are linear in acceleration. Hence, the range of applicability extends to servo-constraints or program constraints described at the velocity level with relationships that are nonlinear in velocity. All configuration constraints, and an important class of classical motion constraints, can be expressed at the velocity level by using equations that are linear in velocity; therefore, the associated constraint equations are linear in acceleration when written at the acceleration level. Two new approaches are presented for deriving equations governing motion of a system subject to constraints expressed at the velocity level with equations that are nonlinear in velocity. By using partial accelerations instead of the partial velocities normally employed with Kane's method, it is possible to form dynamical equations that either do or do not contain evidence of the constraint forces, depending on the analyst's interests.

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Acceleration constraints in modeling and control of nonholonomic systems

2003-12-01 , Bajodah, Abdulrahman H.

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