Flexible Aircraft Test 2014
Flexible Aircraft Test 2014
Flexible Aircraft Test 2014
1. What is the 1st order influence of the aerodynamic forces on the wing bending (0.5p)?
a. No influence
b. Stiffness
c. Damping
d. Inertia
2. What is the 1st order influence of the aerodynamic forces on the aileron rotation (0.5p)?
a. No influence
b. Stiffness
c. Damping
d. Inertia
15. For a given airspeed V which Gust will excite the structural modes at the highest
frequency? (0.5p)
a. Discrete Gust with a Half - Length H of 30ft
b. Discrete Gust with a Half - Length H of 350ft
Then Give its equation function of time and function of position. (0.5p)
U(t)=
U(x)=
16. Wing root bending in continuous turbulence is significantly sensitive to: (0.5p)
a. Rigid mode
b. Flexible mode
c. both
17. Wing tip bending in continuous turbulence is significantly sensitive to: (0.5p)
a. Rigid mode
b. Flexible mode
c. both
21. Given two different loading cases, a vertical static force and a vertical sinusoidal force of
the same amplitude of the static one both applied at the tip of a wing (0.5p)
a. The effect on the wing tip displacement in both of cases is the same for every
frequency of the Von Karman spectrum.
b. The effect of the sinusoidal force on the displacement can be higher when its
frequency it’s close to the one of the first bending mode of the wing
c. The wing tip it’s a node of the first wing bending mode. No deformation will be
observable in both of cases in anycase.
d. The effect on the displacement of the oscillating force is always smaller thanks to
the induced aerodynamic forces.
22. Consider a state space model with 3 input, 7 states and 4 outputs. Which of the following
sentences is not necessarily correct (0.5p)
a. You can place a sensor close to the cockpit and check the transfer functions
between the surface and accelerometers close to the cockpit
b. You ask to the pilot to perform rapid oscillations of the stick to check what happen
c. You need to know the deformation of the fuselage. Only by this way you will be
sure to place the sensor in the right place
d. The comfort of the pilot is not affected by an oscillation of the surfaces
a. y 10
b. y 1
c. y 5
d. y 10
25. The following figure represents the transfer function between the Nz factor at the cockpit
and the deflections of the elevators. Considering that an Nz factor of 0.01g can bother
the pilot,
- which is the minimum elevators oscillation value that can give such Nz factor at the
cockpit? (0.5p)
- Does the situation get better if the frequency of this oscillation suddenly switch to 44
rad/s? (0.5p)
26. In order to control a flexible mode which is the best way to isolate the flexible mode from
the rigid body motion (0.5p):
a. Measure the comfort level at the cockpit location
b. Measure the accelerations in two points, one where the flexible mode is
observable, one on a node, and make the difference
c. Rigid body motion is important for the aircraft maneuverability and can’t be
removed from the measurement
30. What does the Bode Diagram of a transfer function represent (0.5p)?
a. The amplitude and the phase of the sinusoidal response obtained considering a
step input capable to excite all the frequency content of the model
b. The amplitude and the phase of the sinusoidal response obtained considering
sinusoidal input of unitary amplitude
c. The energy content of a signal vs frequency in the SI system
Additional exercise
31. Give a state space representation of the following system given in Laplace domain: (2p)
- X=?
- A= ?
- B=?
33. From the stat space model computed in above question with damping B=0
compute the eigen values.
How many modes are there?
Give their frequencies and damping (1p)
Bonus question
34. Explain the 1st order aerodynamic influence, on the bending mode and control surface
mode (0.5)
35. What is the advantage of expressing flutter equation in modal basis (0,5p)
36. Which solutions can be used to solve the flutter due to the coupling between the bending
mode such as wing bending and the control surface rotation? (multiple answers possible)
(0,5p)
a. Change of rotary stiffness (by the use of hydraulic actuators)
b. The control surface balancing (modifying the CG of control surface by adding
mass)
c. The decrease of the rate limit on the commanded control surface rotation
37. Explain the chosen solutions in question N°36 (0,5p for each solution)