This paper presents a novel method for gust loads alleviation in a truss-braced wing in which an inerter-based device located in the truss-structure is used to reduce peak-loads during a discrete '1-cosine' gust. Three candidate layouts are considered and the device parameters are optimised to target the response of the first three structural modes. It is demonstrated that either a single damper or a combination of inerter-based devices can be used to achieve a reduction of approximately 4% for spanwise locations inboard of the strut attachment point and that this reduction is consistent across the full range of gust gradients. Furthermore, it is noted that the inerter-based device has a significantly smaller damping coefficient than the case where just a damper is used and that the device parameter values are viable within the scope of an aerospace application.

This paper presents a novel method for gust loads alleviation in a truss-braced wing in which an inerter-based device located in the truss structure is used to reduce peak-loads during a discrete "1-cosine" gust. Recent studies have shown that gust loads and flutter are critical to the wing sizing and the overall performance of the truss-braced wing concept and it is understood that without additional efforts to mitigate against these effects the benefits of the truss-braced wing concept may be significantly reduced. It is demonstrated that the use of a tunable device known as a tuned inerter damper allows specific vibration modes to be targeted during the gust response, resulting in a reduction of 25% in root bending moment and 5% in root torque when tuned to the second global wing bending mode. Furthermore, it is noted that the force coefficients of the tuned inerter damper are small in comparison with the pure damper device and could be feasible within the scope of an aerospace application.

Real-Time Hybrid Simulation (RTHS) is an experimental framework that allows the testing of components or substructures under realistic, dynamic boundary conditions, by imposing the reactions calculated from a model of the rest of the assembly through one or more actuators. In the context of rapid prototyping of mechanical components, RTHS could be used to explore the design space of a device while at the same time physically validating its interaction with other components of the final assembly from the early stages of the design-to-production cycle.In this work, RTHS was applied for the first time to the investigation of aerodynamic gust loading alleviation devices in a highly flexible strut-braced wing. The model wing was taken as the physical substructure and tested in a low-speed wind tunnel equipped with gust generators. The load alleviation device was simulated through a real-time feedforward-feedback controller, and its response imposed via an electro-mechanical