Gust loads alleviation of flying wing aircraft based on jet flow control

Due to the limitations of mechanical actuation systems, methods involving control surface deflections to address gust loads suffer from low maneuvering efficiency and limited control effectiveness. Considering the poor static stability characteristics of flying-wing aircraft, a study was conducted on gust load alleviation using jet flow control, based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Initially, the gust response characteristics of the flying wing aircraft were analyzed. Building upon this analysis, both wall jet and circulation control were employed to mitigate the aerodynamic loads induced by gusts. Additionally, a gust load alleviation control strategy based on pressure feedback was proposed. The results indicate that gusts predominantly alter the pressure distribution on the leading edge of the upper wing surface, thus affecting aerodynamic loads. Both wall jet and circulation control were found to be effective in controlling loads; however, the circulation control demonstrated higher efficiency in alleviating gust-induced loads under the current actuator parameters and configurations. In this study, a pressure feedback-based closed-loop control system was designed, which automatically adjusts the jet according to the intensity of the gusts to achieve load alleviation. Under closed-loop control based on pressure feedback, the root mean square value of the increment in lift coefficient induced by gusts was reduced by approximately 63.1%, and the root mean square value of the increment in pitch moment coefficient was reduced by approximately 72.1%.