Aeroelastic deformation measurement of Martian airplane for high-altitude flight experiment using stereophotogrammetry

Abstract

A fixed-wing aircraft called Mars Airplane Balloon Experiment −2 (MABE2) developed by the authors was the subject of high-altitude flight demonstration test in this paper, which can simulate the near-actual environment of a Martian atmospheric flight. Although the flight condition is in the low-Reynolds-number region due to low density at high altitude, the wing suffers from aeroelastic deformation given the relatively high dynamic pressure load in the pull-up phase. Stereophotogrammetry was applied in the 6.5 m × 5.5 m low-speed wind tunnel at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), aiming to optically measure MABE2’s aeroelastic deformation under dynamic pressure loads equivalent to high-altitude flight test, with the MABE2’s reinforced structural strength. The results of the accuracy test indicated that stereophotogrammetry measures aeroelastic deformation at high accuracy of ±0.1 mm around the image center and ±0.3 mm around the edge. A slight deflection of up to 4 mm was observed on the main wing, whereas both the main and tail wings were hardly twisted. Compared with flight-simulation-assumed errors, these deformations are extremely small and have a negligible effect on the high-altitude flight test. The study results confirmed the practicality and efficiency of this optical measurement technique in aeroelastic deformation measurement for a real light aircraft.

A rapid measurement method for residual deformation of aircraft structures

“…Assuming that there are three common points between the two coordinate systems, (8) can be expressed as (9).…”

“…At present, the overall airframe residual deformation measurement faces two challenges: first, the low degree of integration and automation; second, the inability to process data in real time [9]. The traditional method constructs a measurement network by manually setting up stations on site.…”