Research Goals
Simulation plays a crucial role in the development of aircraft. Simulation tools have reached an impressive level of maturity. For various reasons, including cost and increasingly feasibility, there is pressure to exploit simulation data for certification purposes. However, this application creates pressure to increase the certainty of the simulation tools, and to provide estimates of the uncertainties remaining in their predictions. The ECERTA project is looking to respond to this pressure in the area of Aircraft Aeroelasticity.
The ultimate goal of ECERTA is to:
| Advance simulation methods so that simulation data can play an increased role in flutter clearance, reducing the flight flutter testing required
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High Level Research Challenges
There are two key high level research challenges that arise from the Research Goal. First, an assessment of uncertainty is required together with the flutter simulation predictions. Secondly, the aircraft dynamics needs to be mapped out with very little prior guiding information.
Research Programme
To tackle these high level challenges the following research themes are being investigated:
- A hierarchy of aerodynamic modelling approaches is being developed, including linear potential, full potential, Euler and RANS. These balance cost and fidelity, potentially allowing searches over large parameter spaces.
- The uncertainty introduced by aerodynamic modelling needs to be quantified.
- Methods are being developed for Stochastic structural model updating from ground resonance tests and information on fleet variability. The impact of structural model uncertainty on the final flutter predictions will be minimised and quantified.
- Methods to extract structural damping information from ground resonance tests are being developed to allow improved representations in flutter simulations.
- Combination of aerodynamic and structural uncertainties into an aeroelastic uncertainty statement.
- Use of the simulation data to plan optimal validating flight tests.
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