In-flight wing deformation measurements on a glider

Bakunowicz, J.; Meyer, R.; Bakunowicz, Jerzy; Meyer, Ralf

Abstract

© 2016 Royal Aeronautical Society. Flight testing is both vital for collecting data for aeronautic research and at the same time fascinating for its contributors. Taking a glider as a versatile test bed example, this paper presents a transnational measurement campaign within the framework of a collaborative project funded by the European Commission. This project Advanced In-Flight Measurement Techniques 2 (AIM2) is a follow-up of Advanced In-Flight Measurement Techniques (AIM) and dedicated to developing and enhancing promising optical metrology for various flight test applications up to an industrial level. The Image Pattern Correlation Technique (IPCT) and infrared thermography (IRT) are two of these modern non-intrusive measurement methods that were further developed and applied to the glider test bed within the scope of AIM2. Focusing on optical deformation measurements with IPCT the experimental setup, the flight testing and results are summarily discussed. Gliders are not commonly used flight test platforms, which is why this contribution concludes with some lessons learned in general and especially related to the presented application. The experience to be shared with the flight testing community addresses equipment preparation, data collection and processing as well as how to meet official requirements and perform test flight operations in a dense controlled airspace.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 16, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Oct 21, 2016
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Oct 5, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 15, 2017
• Journal: Aeronautical Journal
• Print ISSN: 0001-9240
• Electronic ISSN: 2059-6464
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 120
• Issue: 1234
• Pages: 1917-1931
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/aer.2016.98
• Keywords: image pattern correlation technique, digital image correlation, glider, flight testing, wing deformation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/907010
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aer.2016.98
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aer.2016.98.
• Contract Date: Oct 5, 2017