Stability Analysis of an Aeroelastic System with Actuator Saturation

Abstract

Aeroelastic problems of light weight structures of modern aerospace vehicles are the result of interactions between aerodynamics, structural and inertial forces. The mathematical model of the aeroelastic problem is based on the Lagrange equations of motion for the structural dynamics and on a quasi-steady approach of the generalized unsteady incompressible aerodynamic forces. The oscillations of such aeroelastic system can be suppressed using linear active control techniques. In the case when the control is saturated the stability domain shrinks. The describing function method is used in this paper to determine the periodic solutions of an experimental aeroelastic system for two control laws.