Semi-Active Flutter Control using a Linear Tuned

Vibration Absorber of Magnetorheological

Elastomers (MREs)

Student Name: Alfonso Uribe Ramírez

Student ID: 1985267
Supervisor: Dr. Diego Francisco Ledezma Ramírez
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Emiliano Rustighi
Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................1
Background Information.........................................................................................1
Problem Approach...................................................................................................2
Hypothesis................................................................................................................2
Overall Objective......................................................................................................2
Specific Objectives..................................................................................................2
General Methodology..............................................................................................2
Schedule...................................................................................................................2
References................................................................................................................2
Introduction
Vibrations are normal effects that happen in real life. From a simple walk, an
oscillation occurs with each step. These oscillations occur from cyclic forces, for
instance a disbalanced motor; and/or displacements, like an earthquake; directly
applied to an object. Although they can be useful for some instances, there will be
problems which a solution must be found to completely avoid or minimize their
harmful effects. Some examples can be body discomfort, noise generation and
even a complete structural failure. In Aeronautics, the aerodynamic forces are one
of many causes of vibration failure.
Aerodynamics studies the interaction between the air and a solid inside the fluid.
As an overall simplification, the aerodynamic forces depend of the geometry of the
body, the fluid properties and the relative velocity between fluid and solid. But the
assumption is that the solid is completely rigid, or there is no change in the shape.
This contradicts Solid Mechanics, which says that a solid body deforms in the
presence of loads. For a more complete study, Aeroelasticity is the result from
combining Aerodynamics with Solid Mechanics.
Dynamic Aeroelasticity investigates the transformation of the structure and the
aerodynamic loads with the change of time. This is the same way a vibration
analysis is done. Since the loads depend of the velocity, a limit exists called the
flutter speed. If the airspeed goes above the limit, eventually a structure failure
occurs because of structural instability. In aircraft design, incrementing the flutter
speed is critical. Specially for low weight structures, which increases the flexibility
of the structure. This low rigidity makes the structure be sensitive to aeroelastic
effects. Vibration control techniques can reduce the effects caused by
aeroelasticity.
Vibration control can be classified into three categories: passive control, active
control and semi-active control. Passive control establishes fixed characteristics of
the structure, be it the inertia, dampness and/or stiffness, which function in a fixed
environment. Active control uses an actuator to generate forces to counter the
external forces and movements by sensor feedback. Semi-active control combines
passive control with active control to change the properties of the structure. This
can be done by using smart materials, transformable materials by external stimuli.
One category is the magnetorheological material which modify its mechanical
properties by exposing it to a magnetic field. A regular elastomer is a type of
material known as an efficient isolator and as an opposer to vibrations. By adding
magnetic particles to the mixture, a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is
obtained, and is the proposal of this investigation, by using semi-active control, to
raise optimally the flutter speed.
Background Information
The design of reducing the effects of flutter and air gusts were stablished by Karpel
in 1981 [1]. The methodologies of how to obtain and understand the aeroelastic

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data based on the structural and aerodynamic properties of the system. The
passive methods mentioned are mass balance and stiffness tuning, which both
means adding weight to the structure. This is also known as “structural penalty”
since the extra mass does not contribute to anything else and is considered dead
weight. For the active method, aeroservoelasticity, uses the control surfaces as
actuators to counter the aerodynamic forces. The method also depends of an
aeroelastic model, so its precision depends in the structural and aerodynamic
model of the control surfaces. While there is no addition of extra weight, reliability
of the unsteady aerodynamics is the main concern. Still today, Karpel is the basis
of any research in the area of aeroelasticity. In recent research, Verstraelen wrote
a doctoral thesis specializing in linear and non-linear tuned mass dampers for non-
linear aeroelasticity [2]. Based on the information that flutter is caused by the
approach of frequencies when the airspeed increases, a flutter frequency can be
determined. Based on this frequency, and previous use of dynamic absorbers in
civil engineering for flutter suppression, an absorber can be tuned and change the
flutter speed. In the linear absorber experiment, the best result obtained was an
increase of 36% of the speed with an approximate of 2.3% of the wing’s mass [3].
The limitation of the linear absorber is its sensitivity in the change of frequency. If it
is not carefully tuned, then there is a decrease of the flutter speed. That is why
Verstraelen also proposed the use of a non-linear absorber. Another passive
proposal is using visco-hysteretic absorbers [4]. This model used the Bouc-Wen
differential model to represent the visco-hysteresis force and the theoretical results
show an increase of 240% of the flutter speed with a mass ratio of just 1%.
The first use of combining passive control with active control for flutter
suppression came in 1980 by Reed et al [5]. The design was for military aircrafts
which change its mass distribution by releasing cargo. The result was a pylon
which dynamically decouples the pitch of the wing from the cargo, using passive
springs and dampers, and an actuator which aligns the pylon. This combination
increased the flutter speed and making the system insensitive to the changes of
inertia and center of gravity. The proposal of utilizing a semi-active control with
variable stiffness came for the first time in 1995 by Yang et al [6]. The control
technique was a switchable stiffness using a reference angle. The results
demonstrated that a simple semi-active control scheme successfully controlled
non-linear effects and increased the linear flutter speed by 20% without increasing
the mass. The use of smart materials for semi-active control has also been
explored. Magnetorheological dampers (MRDs) have been used in applications for
vibration isolation and flutter suppression is no exception [7]. With a switchable
control, or clipped control as it is mentioned, a comparison was made with an
equivalent passive controller. The result shows an increase of 40.8% from the
passive controller flutter speed. Research of substituting MRDs with MRE has
increased since MRE has the same characteristics of changing properties,
damping and adding stiffness because of visco-elastic properties, without some
negatives of MRDs as pre-shaking, sealing problems and environmental

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contamination [8]. Up until now, no research has been done on using MREs for
aeroelasticity applications.

Problem Approach
With each iteration of structural efficiency, the aircraft structure increases its
sensitivity of failure by flutter. New models and techniques for flutter suppression
are researched with the least increment of mass and there is no existing
experiment or proposal of using magnetorheological elastomers as a possible
solution.
Hypothesis
Based on previous research, a careful design of a dynamic absorber increases the
flutter speed with the least weight. By changing the absorber from fixed to variable,
by utilizing magnetorheological elastomers and combining a semi-active control
method, it may be possible to increase the flutter speed in comparison to passive
control.
Overall Objective
Design an analytical model and validate it with an experiment where the flutter
speed can be predicted using the aerodynamic, structural and inertia
characteristics of the system and add a linear dynamic absorber with passive and
semi-active characteristics.
Specific Objectives
 Characterize the mechanical properties of the magnetorheological
elastomer samples.
 Understand the cause of why flutter can occur in a system using existing
aeroelastic models.
 Develop the mathematical equations for flutter prediction in a rigid flat plate
with springs.
 Propose and design the prototype for the wind tunnel experiment with flutter
failure.
 Evaluate each configuration of a linear dynamic absorber by changing its
tuned frequency, damping ratio and position on the plate.
 Construct the prototype and dynamic absorber using the
magnetorheological elastomers.
 Validate the analytical and experimental results of the prototype without the
absorber, absorber with passive characteristics and absorber with semi-
active characteristics.
General Methodology

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 Study of State-of-the Art: Search for articles involving the function of
magnetorheological elastomers and aeroelastic flutter failure with passive
and semi-active solutions.
 MRE Sample Characterization: Utilizing the small shaker and impedance
sensor from the structural dynamic’s laboratory, the stiffness and dampness
will be obtained from MRE samples. Then, using an electromagnet, the new
parameters will be registered with the change of the magnetic field.
 Build Analytical Model: Since there is no history of making an aeroelastic
experiment in the laboratories, the aeroelastic model will use thin airfoil
theory, quasi-steady aerodynamics and a rigid body restricted by springs.
 Design of Experiment: From the parameters and limitations of the wind
tunnel, by using the analytical model, a spring-plate system will be designed
which the desired failure is flutter. Also, the plate must be hollow for future
passive and semi-active designs.
 Design of Linear Passive Absorber: From the design, a complementary
model will be added using linear vibration absorbers. By modifying and
simulating the absorbers, a set of characteristics will be chosen for the
experiment.
 Construction and Validation of Experiment: The design and absorber will be
constructed to obtain real data and be compared with the analytical data.
The test will be done inside the wind tunnel and the data will be obtained by
accelerometers.
 Design and Simulation of Semi-active Absorber: With the validation and
adjustment of the analytical model, the passive absorber will be changed to
semi-active by adding the MREs properties. A simulation will be done to
compare with the passive solution.

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 
Schedule

2019 2020

Activities A S O N D J F M A M J

Study of State-of-the-Art

MRE Characterization

Analytical Model

Design of Experiment

Design of Passive Absorber

Construction of Experiment

Data Validation
Design and Simulation of Semi-active
Absorber
Writing of Thesis

References
[1] Karpel, M. (1981). Design for active and passive flutter suppression and gust
alleviation. Ph. D. Thesis.
[2] Verstraelen, E. (2018). Aeroelastic Limit Cycle Oscillations Mitigation Using
Linear and Nonlinear Tuned Mass Dampers (Doctoral dissertation, Université de
Liège, Liège, Belgique).
[3] Verstraelen, E., Habib, G., Kerschen, G., & Dimitriadis, G. (2016). Experimental
passive flutter suppression using a linear tuned vibration absorber. AIAA Journal,
1707-1722.
[4] Lacarbonara, W., & Cetraro, M. (2011). Flutter control of a lifting surface via
visco-hysteretic vibration absorbers. International Journal of Aeronautical and
Space Sciences,12(4), 331-345.
[5] Reed III, W. H., Foughner Jr, J. T., & Runyan Jr, H. L. (1980). Decoupler pylon:
a simple, effective wing/store flutter suppressor. Journal of Aircraft, 17(3), 206-211.

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[6] Yang, Z. C., Zhao, L. C., & Jiang, J. S. (1995). A semi-active flutter control
scheme for a two-dimensional wing. Journal of sound and vibration, 184(1), 1-7.
[7] Hu, J. L., & Zhou, L. (2007, April). Semi-active flutter control of a high-aspect-
ratio wing using multiple MR dampers. In Sensors and Smart Structures
Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2007 (Vol. 6529, p.
65291C). International Society for Optics and Photonics.
[8] Li, Y., Li, J., Li, W., & Du, H. (2014). A state-of-the-art review on
magnetorheological elastomer devices. Smart materials and structures, 23(12),
123001.