Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FLiPASED (FLIGHT PHASE ADAPTIVE AERO-SERVO-ELASTIC AIRCRAFT DESIGN METHODS)
Reporting period: 2021-05-01 to 2023-06-30
The FliPASED project is about developing multidisciplinary design capabilities for Europe that will increase competitiveness with emerging markets, particularly in terms of aircraft development costs. A closer coupling of wing aeroelasticity and flight control systems in the design process opens new opportunities to explore previously unviable designs. Common methods and tools across the disciplines also provide a way to rapidly adapt existing designs into derivative aircraft, at a reduced technological risk (e.g. using control to solve a flutter problem discovered during development).
The project aims to develop an advanced design toolchain and innovative methods for building a prototype aircraft that meets future aerial vehicle requirements:
Improve the efficiency of separate wing design, flight controls, and avionics development toolchains by enhancing multidisciplinary collaboration for overall aircraft design. This approach optimizes fuel consumption through advanced flight control augmentation and uniform treatment of flight control surfaces. Develop accurate methods and tools for modeling flexible modes and synthesizing flexible aircraft control while ensuring reliable avionics system implementation, including fault detection and reconfiguration. This can lead to a 15% reduction in gust response amplitude and standardized methods to streamline mathematical models, reducing engineering effort by 50%. Validate the developed tools and methods using the experimental platform from the prior H2020 project (FLEXOP). This platform enables interdisciplinary development, testing gust response prediction, active wing morphing for fuel efficiency, and flight envelope assessment in failure scenarios. Significant cost savings are expected by manufacturing advanced flexible wings and reusing main components from FLEXOP, expanding the design space for active flexible wing capabilities and generating valuable data for research and industry through open data sharing.
The project aims to develop an advanced design toolchain and innovative methods for building a prototype aircraft that meets future aerial vehicle requirements:
Improve the efficiency of separate wing design, flight controls, and avionics development toolchains by enhancing multidisciplinary collaboration for overall aircraft design. This approach optimizes fuel consumption through advanced flight control augmentation and uniform treatment of flight control surfaces. Develop accurate methods and tools for modeling flexible modes and synthesizing flexible aircraft control while ensuring reliable avionics system implementation, including fault detection and reconfiguration. This can lead to a 15% reduction in gust response amplitude and standardized methods to streamline mathematical models, reducing engineering effort by 50%. Validate the developed tools and methods using the experimental platform from the prior H2020 project (FLEXOP). This platform enables interdisciplinary development, testing gust response prediction, active wing morphing for fuel efficiency, and flight envelope assessment in failure scenarios. Significant cost savings are expected by manufacturing advanced flexible wings and reusing main components from FLEXOP, expanding the design space for active flexible wing capabilities and generating valuable data for research and industry through open data sharing.
WP1-WP3 started early in the project, only minor preparatory work was done on the scale-up work package (WP4). During the second half of the project scale-up and the corresponding RCE toolchain development was more active, but the incident with the demonstrator and numerous re-planning activities due to covid related travel restrictions made the work distrubution and progress far from ideal. This also led to re-focus the project and abandon the -3 wing manufacturing and flight testing. The main work items and achievements were the following:
• Setup of requirements incl. open data process,
• Definition of collaborative work process including interfaces between disciplines & selection of collaborative work tools all within the RCE environment
• Reference model definition
• Enhancement and maturation of (single discipline) tools towards robustness
• Demonstrator overall and component level improvements
• Model refinement using GVT data & flight tests
• Rebuild the demonstrator
• Flight test the demonstrators (T-FLEX and P-FLEX) and conduct flutter related experiments
• Publish datasets openly and disseminate the project results
WP1 The demonstrator MDO workflow with interfaces and requirements were set-up. The wing and demonstrator actuation and sensing concept was reviewed to account for the increased need of sensing and larger number of actuators coupled with the main objectives of demonstration.
WP2 The demonstrator MDO workflow with interfaces and requirements were adopted and the individual tools were given a common RCE/CPACS interface. Building and intergrating methods/tools was successfully consolidated.
WP3 after solving the landing gear problems and flight permit the two demonstrators were flight tested.
Within WP4 a comprehensive loads process with an actively controlled flexible aircraft is in the loop covering a comprehensive set of load cases, unlike many MDO chains with CFD in the loop. The process is implemented as a distributed collaborative process.
WP5 The demonstrator MDO workflow with interfaces and requirements were set-up. Setup of the project management and collaborative environment for the project is complete.
Large number of publications and other dissemination activities were pursued, including engaging not only with the scientific community but also with the general public.
The consortium also succesfully managed the impact of Covid, chip shortage and the replanning associated with the loss of the first demonstrator - leading to a 6 months amendment.
• Setup of requirements incl. open data process,
• Definition of collaborative work process including interfaces between disciplines & selection of collaborative work tools all within the RCE environment
• Reference model definition
• Enhancement and maturation of (single discipline) tools towards robustness
• Demonstrator overall and component level improvements
• Model refinement using GVT data & flight tests
• Rebuild the demonstrator
• Flight test the demonstrators (T-FLEX and P-FLEX) and conduct flutter related experiments
• Publish datasets openly and disseminate the project results
WP1 The demonstrator MDO workflow with interfaces and requirements were set-up. The wing and demonstrator actuation and sensing concept was reviewed to account for the increased need of sensing and larger number of actuators coupled with the main objectives of demonstration.
WP2 The demonstrator MDO workflow with interfaces and requirements were adopted and the individual tools were given a common RCE/CPACS interface. Building and intergrating methods/tools was successfully consolidated.
WP3 after solving the landing gear problems and flight permit the two demonstrators were flight tested.
Within WP4 a comprehensive loads process with an actively controlled flexible aircraft is in the loop covering a comprehensive set of load cases, unlike many MDO chains with CFD in the loop. The process is implemented as a distributed collaborative process.
WP5 The demonstrator MDO workflow with interfaces and requirements were set-up. Setup of the project management and collaborative environment for the project is complete.
Large number of publications and other dissemination activities were pursued, including engaging not only with the scientific community but also with the general public.
The consortium also succesfully managed the impact of Covid, chip shortage and the replanning associated with the loss of the first demonstrator - leading to a 6 months amendment.
The primary impacts of the project are related to the succesful active flutter control tests on a conventional configuration UAS, the release of a validated datasets to the aeroelasticity community within the Open Research Data initiative and the improved design environment comprising enhanced toolsets optimized for collaborative interactions within and across organizations, together with the best practices and standards for collaborative designenvironments as well as the design process itself. Since the developed tools are validated using a flight demonstrator, the reached Technology Readiness Level of this activity is TRL5.
The project went beyond the state-of-art in several topics: the RCE environment for MDO tasks, developed jointly between the partners and taking flutter control into consideration is a true novelty.
The aircraft avionics and sensing system also includes several novelties, increased reliance on angular rate measurements besides accelerometers.
The partners also developed, ground tested and flown a miniature operational modal analysis system.
The achieved results related to active flutter control needs no further explanation. Several projects, including ones led by Airbus and Dassault Aviation are looking at very similar problems and the project directly supplies information to them since both Airbus and Dassault were on the advisory group of the project.
Novel custom actuator system were developed within the project to actuate the flutter flaps, these are some of the highest frequency aerodynamic actuators fitted to a similar sized drone and required significant engineering effort beyond the state-of-art to manufacture and integrate them to the demonstrator.
The project also spent significant effort on Big Data based methods to provide a Machine Learning based solution to wingshape estimation (an essential component to wingshape control based drag reduction) using the KalmanNet architecture, and compare its results to traditional Eyxtended Kalman Filtering methods.
The project was the first in Germany and one of the first in Europe under the new EASA regulations to have flight authorization for a more than 25 kg fixed wing drone flying in commercial airspace. Both LBA and DLR Cochstedt Airport were very constructive and they also benefitted greatly from the approval process.
Many MDO projects have considered aerodynamics and structures coupled optimization, but only a handful of them considers maneuver and gust loads, hence the framework set up within the project for loads closed sizing loop for a commercial aircraft is also very novel.
The project went beyond the state-of-art in several topics: the RCE environment for MDO tasks, developed jointly between the partners and taking flutter control into consideration is a true novelty.
The aircraft avionics and sensing system also includes several novelties, increased reliance on angular rate measurements besides accelerometers.
The partners also developed, ground tested and flown a miniature operational modal analysis system.
The achieved results related to active flutter control needs no further explanation. Several projects, including ones led by Airbus and Dassault Aviation are looking at very similar problems and the project directly supplies information to them since both Airbus and Dassault were on the advisory group of the project.
Novel custom actuator system were developed within the project to actuate the flutter flaps, these are some of the highest frequency aerodynamic actuators fitted to a similar sized drone and required significant engineering effort beyond the state-of-art to manufacture and integrate them to the demonstrator.
The project also spent significant effort on Big Data based methods to provide a Machine Learning based solution to wingshape estimation (an essential component to wingshape control based drag reduction) using the KalmanNet architecture, and compare its results to traditional Eyxtended Kalman Filtering methods.
The project was the first in Germany and one of the first in Europe under the new EASA regulations to have flight authorization for a more than 25 kg fixed wing drone flying in commercial airspace. Both LBA and DLR Cochstedt Airport were very constructive and they also benefitted greatly from the approval process.
Many MDO projects have considered aerodynamics and structures coupled optimization, but only a handful of them considers maneuver and gust loads, hence the framework set up within the project for loads closed sizing loop for a commercial aircraft is also very novel.