Experimental study of dynamic inflow conditions of an actuator disc

The main objective of this master’s thesis is to experimentally investigate the effects of dynamic inflow conditions on the wake of an actuator disc. Dynamic inflow is the unsteady wake in momentum theory. Dynamic inflow can experimentally be generated by a gust generator. During the experiments, in which Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was...

A Bio-inspired Sensing Approach to in-Gust Flight of Flapping Wing MAVs

Flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAVs) are known for their flight agility and maneuverability. However, their in-gust flight performance and stability is still inferior to their biological counterparts. To this end, a simplified in-gust dynamic model, which could capture the main gust effects on FWMAVs, has been identified with real in...

Aerodynamic load evaluation on a highly flexible wing by Lagrangian Particle Tracking

The technical advancements achieved during the last decade have permitted the implementation of low-fidelity numerical methods to analyze simplified aeroelastic problems. However, the available computational power is still incapable of dealing with more realistic events involving complex structural dynamics and flow regimes. For this reason,...

An experimental study on flared folding wingtips: Effects of wing stiffness, aeroelastic tailoring and hinge release threshold on gust load alleviation performance

The flared folding wingtip (FFWT) is a concept presented by Airbus to increase the aerodynamic efficiency and provide a means of load alleviation. A gate-to-gate demonstration of this concept has already been presented with the AlbatrossONE, a scaled aircraft featuring the FFWT concept. In this demonstration, the aircraft fold the wingtips...

Development of an Aeroservoelastic Platform: From Concept to Final Product

With the increased focus on sustainability, aircraft are designed to reduce their emissions. One way to accomplish this is by increasing the wing aspect ratio, thereby increasing the aerodynamic efficiency, however this is not without consequences. Increased aspect ratio wings have a higher structural mass, are more susceptible to gust and...

Moisture transportation for extreme precipitation: On how dynamics enhances precipitation intensification in a warmer climate in the Netherlands

It is well understood that precipitation extremes will increase in a warming climate. On (sub-)hourly timescales, the apparent scaling of precipitation extremes is stronger than expected from the Clausius-Clapeyron relation. Here, we focus on a common hypothesis which states that feedbacks from the local dynamics of clouds are responsible.<br/>...

Extreme convective gusts in a future warmer climate assessed through a convection permitting model

Severe wind gusts associated with mid-latitude convective storms contribute to an increasing amount of natural hazard related losses in Europe. Modifications of the atmosphere associated with anthropogenic climate change are projected to increase the frequency of favorable conditions for convective storms, and it is absolutely critical to...

Integrated Aerodynamic and Structural Measurements of the Gust Response of a Flexible Wing with Robotic PIV

Experimental aeroelastic data is often needed in order to validate the output of fluid-structure interaction numerical simulations or to gain insight into the physics of a problem without the need of intermediate modelling. Traditional measurement approaches in wind tunnels have relied on the simultaneous use of several measurement systems ...

Wind Gust Generation for Wind Turbine Testing via Numerical Methods

The modelling of gust generation by an array of oscillating vanes at Delft's University of Technology Open Jet Facility is proposed. Focus is placed on identifying relevant in-field gusts that horizontal axis wind turbines are exposed to and reproduction via numerical methods in the wind tunnel setting. A computationally efficient model is...

Design Guidelines for Gust Load Inclusion in Aeroelastic Optimization of a Civil Aircraft in the Preliminary Design Phase

Fundamental phase in the preliminary design of an aircraft is the load case choice. Historically, the manoeuvres have been considered as the principal critical loads, while in conceptual design the gusts have been not investigated since, being an intrinsically dynamic phenomenon, they are expensive to analyze. Nevertheless, they are a critical...

Wing Optimization with Active Load Control: Integrating Maneuver Load Control and Gust Load Alleviation in Wing Structural Optimization of Large Transport Aircraft

Improving the performance of large transport aircraft requires high aspect ratio and lightweight wings, making aeroelasticity an important factor in wing structural design. Active control of aeroelastic loads can be used to improve the aeroelastic behavior of the wing.<br/><br/>Two active load control techniques are considered: Maneuver Load...

Unsteady Aerodynamics in the Gust and Manoeuvre Response of Flexible Aircraft

Aircraft wings are becoming more flexible, making it important to take this flexibility into account from the start of the design process. With flexible wings, unsteady (time-varying) aerodynamics becomes important. For this reason, an unsteady aerodynamics model was constructed and coupled to an aeroelastic flight mechanics tool. This allows...