Patent ID: 8393206
Filing Date: 2013-03-12
Classification: G01M

Abstract:
1. A Dry Wind Tunnel (DWT) method that is used to predict the flutter boundaries of a structure without using a wind tunnel, said DWT method comprising the following steps: (a) providing: (b) loading a real-time unsteady aerodynamic force generation software stored in and executable on said at least one computer that is able to compute initial real-time unsteady aerodynamic force on said structure at said at least one shaker location; (c) controlling, using said at least one computer, said at least one shaker to exert an initial impulse on such structure; (d) receiving, in said at least one computer, initial data from said at least one displacement sensor, said at least one velocity sensor, and said at least one acceleration sensor via said data acquisition system, responsive to said initial impulse; (e) computing test inputs for controlling said at least one shaker, responsive to said initial data and using said real-time unsteady aerodynamic force generation software; (f) controlling said at least one shaker, responsive to said test inputs and using said force controller software, to shake such structure; (g) measuring, via said at least one computer: (h) computing, using said at least one computer running said force generation software and responsive to said measured structural response as input, an unsteady aerodynamic force at said at least one shaker location; (i) applying said computed unsteady aerodynamic force to said structure through said at least one shaker; (j) controlling, using said force controller software, said applied forces to be the same as said real-time unsteady aerodynamic forces computed using said real-time unsteady aerodynamic force generation software; (k) monitoring said structural response data in real time; (l) if said structural response data indicates a decay motion, incrementally changing said inputs to create incremented test inputs to said real-time unsteady aerodynamic force generation software; (m) repeating steps (f) to (l) until said structural response data indicates a divergent motion; (n) designating a condition between said decay motion and said divergent motion of such structure as a predicted flutter boundary of such structure.