he wind driven manipulator is a device to enable simulation of complex aircraft maneuvers in wind tunnels, in order to study unsteady flow phenomena. Using techniques such as thrust vectoring and vortex flow control, future combat aircraft will execute maneuvers that go beyond the limits imposed by conventional aerodynamic controls. This regime involves complex interactions between vortices, and highly nonlinear aerodynamic interactions. To develop such vehicles, extensive wind tunnel testing is required, involving precisely-scaled motions of test models through complex trajectories. As wind tunnel models are smaller than the flight vehicles, the rates of acceleration required in the wind tunnel, scaled for constant "reduced frequency" are higher than those of the actual aircraft. Experience has shown (e.g., Ref. 1) that vortex phenomena at high angles of attack can be scaled over a wide range of Reynolds number, so that useful results can be obtained from model-scale studies in wind tunnels. We submit that the wind driven manipulator (WDM) offers significant advances over current methods for maneuvering wind tunnel models. These are enabled by continuing advances in the control of uncertain nonlinear systems.
展开▼
