Ariel Drachinsky
DOI Number: N/A
Conference number: IFASD-2017-057
This paper presents a computational and experimental study of the nonlinear aeroelastic response of a missile containing softening and hysteresis in the actuator of its fin. The aim of the work was to study the effect of the nonlinearity and the hysteresis on the dynamic stability of the configuration, and on the type of the obtained instability, mainly focusing on the question whether the oscillations would converge to a limit cycle oscillation (LCO) or diverge. The mathematical model is based on the Increased Order Model (IOM) method, implemented by the DYNRESP software, for the nonlinear solution. The structural model is a modal model calibrated vs GVT tests, and the aerodynamic model is based on an unsteady panel model. The nonlinearity is based on static measurements of the actuator stiffness, and is modeled in the study as an external non-linear feedback loop for the main linear block. The effect of the nonlinearity and softening and hysteresis on the onset velocity is studied along with the effect of the amplitude of initial conditions and an initial static angle of attack. Finally, some of the trends obtained in the simulations are shown in wind tunnel test results.