Gust Alleviation Control using Prior Gust Information: Wind Tunnel Test Results

Abstract This paper reports dynamic wind tunnel test results of gust alleviation using preview control. The wind tunnel tests are conducted as a part of validation of gust alleviation control using an onboard Doppler LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system, which was developed by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and can measure wind velocities in front of an aircraft. The wind tunnel system is composed of a gust wind generator, a half-span rigid aircraft model, a model support system and a digital controller unit. The aircraft model is allowed to move pitch direction by the support system. It is equipped with two control surfaces, which are controlled by commands from the controller unit. Since the LIDAR system cannot be used in the wind tunnel system, the LIDAR information is emulated using the predetermined timeseries of the gust wind generator and used for the preview control law. The wind tunnel tests are conducted with 1-cosine shape gust generation commands and the proposed preview control law is compared with a conventional feedback control law. The results show that the proposed control law is effective in alleviating vertical load caused by gust wind.