Gust alleviation by spanwise load control applied on a forward and backward swept wing

Abstract

The present paper investigates the feasibility of gust load alleviation at transonic speeds on a backward swept and a forward swept transport aircraft configuration. Spanwise-distributed control surfaces at the leading and trailing edges are employed to control gust-induced wing bending as well as wing torsion moments. The deflection amplitude and temporal flap actuation are determined by a novel scheme that builds on the aerodynamic strip theory. The aerodynamic effectiveness of the actuators is taken from a data base, computed from either 2D infinite swept wing simulations, or from yawed computations that take the effects of boundary-layer cross flow and the local sweep angle of the control surface into account. The present numerical flow simulations reveal that careful application of control laws at the trailing edge alleviates wing bending moments caused by strong vertical gusts by 85–90%, for both aircraft configurations. The application of leading-edge flaps introduces significant nonlinear aerodynamic interactions, that make the control of torsional moments comparably challenging. Here, the present results indicate that about 60% of wing torsion loads due to strong gusts can be removed.