An approach has been developed to use the strain sensed in a membrane wing to estimate aerodynamic loads. Through experimental and theoretical correlation of membrane strain state due to a normally distributed load, the pressure over the surface of the wing was estimated. Elastic deformations and strains of the membrane wing were measured in a low-speed wind tunnel using digital image correlation. Simultaneously, aerodynamic loads were measured using a six-component load cell, inclinometer, and pitot tube. Digital image correlation displacement measurements were used to form a reduced-order model of the membrane displacements via a snapshot proper orthogonal decomposition method. Digital image correlation strain measurements were used to form virtual strain sensors, which served as the sensory input to the estimation. The Poisson equation for a two-dimensional linear-elastic membrane with out-of-plane deformation was used to calculate the normal pressure distribution from virtual strain sensors using proper orthogonal decomposition basis functions and a recursive least-squares minimization. Estimated pressure distributions were compared with a high-fidelity three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic model and pressures were calculated from digital image correlation deformations. Coefficients of lift and pitching moment for steady-state flow conditions were estimated and compared with measured wind-tunnel loads. Results show promise toward the application of a low-fidelity estimation approach for real-time load-estimation applications.


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    Title :

    Aerodynamic Load Estimation from Virtual Strain Sensors for a Pliant Membrane Wing


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    AIAA Journal ; 53 , 8 ; 2069-2079


    Publication date :

    2015-06-08


    Size :

    11 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





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