Closed-Loop Control of Lift for Longitudinal Gust Suppression at Low Reynolds Numbers

Experiments are conducted to investigate the ability of variable-pressure pulsed-blowing actuation to maintain a constant lift force on a low-aspect-ratio semicircular wing in a longitudinally gusting flow. Dynamic models of the lift response to actuation and the lift response to longitudinal gusting are obtained through modern system identification methods. Robust closed-loop controllers are synthesized using a mixed-sensitivity loop-shaping approach. An additional feedforward disturbance compensator is designed based on a model of the unsteady aerodynamics. The controllers show suppression of lift fluctuations at low gust frequencies, f < 0.8 Hz (reduced frequency, k < 0.09). At higher frequencies, the control performance degrades due to limitations related to the time for a disturbance, created by the actuators, to convect over the wing and establish the flowfield that leads to enhanced lift on the wing.