Configuration of Piezoelectric Patches in Mitigating Structural Flutter

Aeroelasticity is a major concern in structural control. It results from the interaction between the air-stream and the structure. Wing flutter is a well known problem of the aero-elasticity. It occurs when the two lowest system eigenvalues (plunge and pitch motion) coalesce at a certain air speed known as the flutter speed. The increasing use of active material induced-strain actuation such as piezoelectric materials in the suppression of structural vibrations has seen its extension to wing flutter control. The objective of this work is to delay the onset of aerodynamic flutter through the optimization of the orientation and positioning of actuation of piezoelectric patches on the structure. Higher flutter speed and hence, a wider operating envelope was achieved by delaying the coalescence of these two eigenvalues. This delay is obtained by adding more strain energy to the system as a result of the activation of the piezoelectric actuators. This paper models a simple beam under nominal aerodynamic loading conditions for the determination of analytically-derived onset of flutter speeds. Also shown in this paper, is the effect of orientation of actuated piezoelectric patches, on the shift of the flutter speed.