GUDGET

GUDGET aims at providing an innovative experimental set-up for the investigation of gust loads: an enhanced gust generator system is being developed together with an aeroelastic half-model, both to be installed in the transonic facility ONERA S3Ch.

The motivation of the GUDGET project relies in the necessity to investigate the aeroelastic behaviour of aircraft (WT-models) under high amplitude gust conditions, with the acquisition of a relevant database which allows assessing the numerical capabilities to predict gust loads.

At this aim, the consortium GUDGET is performing the design of the experimental setup: design and manufacture the WT model according to technical requirements provided by ONERA.

Special care is being dedicated to the dynamic characteristics of the final model, therefore a specific interface with the WT is being implemented. In parallel, the consortium is performing a preliminary trade-off analysis to find the best configuration of the Gust Generators to comply with requirements of the ONERA, by considering innovative configurations of tilting airfoils moved by mechanical actuators as well as blowing slots fed by fluidic actuators or a combination of both. The best solution over a number of candidates will be chosen as the one to be designed in detail and then manufactured, calibrated/ verified and eventually installed in the WT.

The whole project is very challenging given the stringent requirements of the Gust Generator system, to be able to generate gusts with amplitudes up to +/-1 deg, in the frequency bandwidth [0-100 Hz], for a transonic flow field with WT airspeed of M∞=0.82, and the peculiarities of the aeroelastic WT model, heavily instrumented and equipped with an active aileron (with a piezo-actuator) to be used inside the WT as load alleviator. The strong multi-disciplinarity of most of the activities of GUDGET, to be performed in a very tight timeframe, requires a strict cooperation among the different project partners and an effective technical coordination.

The GUDGET consortium has been setup by joining well recognized and very experienced companies and universities: IBK and POLIMI with a strong experience in the design, manufacturing and operating of WT models; DREAM for supporting CFD and numerical analysis; AVDES for the manufacturing activities and CTEC for the design and implementation of actuation devices. IBK coordinates the Consortium, is the Gust Generators’ and WT model’s design leader, and gives support to ONERA during WT tests.

The following partners contribute to GUDGET:

  • POLIMI as support to design of Gust Generators and WT model
  • DREAM as support to the architecture optimization of GG through CFD analysis
  • AVDES for manufacturing and instrumentation (pressure taps, pressure sensor, accelerometers) of Gust Generators and WT mode
  • CTEC for Design and implementation of actuation systems for both Gust Generators and WT model
  • IBK for Coordination / Design Leader / Support to WT test

GUDGET starts in March 2019 and will last 24 months

The GUDGET project has received funding from the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 831802.