Active Flutter Suppression of the Supersonic Semispan Transport (S4T) Model

†Active aeroelastic control has the potential to address flutter, dynamic loads, and ride quality for supersonic transport configurations without adding weight, thereby enabling efficient high speed flight. In this development, control laws have been developed to provide flutter suppression for a dynamically scaled wind tunnel model of a supersonic transport configuration known as the supersonic semispan transport (S4T). These control laws have been assessed using both analytical and experimental studies at the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel. The predicted flutter dynamic pressure and stability margins were observed in analytical results. Experimental results were collected at subcritical dynamic pressures and evaluated using inverse amplitude, damping comparison, and Zimmerman-Weissenburger methods. Additionally, changes to the critical aeroelastic mode shapes due to the controller were evaluated in the experimental data. Both analytical and experimental results support the presence of flutter suppression at subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flight conditions.