Aerodynamic and Structural Measurement of the Aerostructures Test Wing for Flutter Testing

One of the fundamental problems associated with ight control of exible structures is that, unlike structural dynamics and control actuation, unsteady aerodynamic parameters are not directly measured as observables in real time. This paper describes an approach that addresses aspects of distributed sensing for control synthesis to actively compensate for aeroservoelastic dynamics. The second Aerostructures Test Wing (ATW2) provided a platform for ight validation of the approach. The ATW2 was instrumented with torsion/bending strain gauge bridges, accelerometers and hotlm sensors. The hotlm sensors were used to identify the unsteady aerodynamic ow characteristics on the test article at all the ight operating conditions and correlated with the ATW2 structural response.