A robust technique for performing numerical simulations of nonlinear unsteady aeroelastic behavior is developed. The technique is applied to long-span bridges and the wing of a modern business jet. The heart of the procedure is combining the aerodynamic and structural models. The aerodynamic model is a general unsteady vortex-lattice method. The structural model for the bridges is a rigid roadbed supported by linear and torsional springs. For the aircraft wing, the structural model is a cantilever beam with rigid masses attached at various positions along the span; it was generated with the NASTRAN program. The structure, flowing air, and control devices are considered to be the elements of a single dynamic system. All the governing equations are integrated simultaneously and interactively in the time domain; a predictor-corrector method was adapted to perform this integration. For long-span bridges, the simulation predicts the onset of flutter accurately, and the numerical results strongly suggest that an actively controlled wing attached below the roadbed can easily suppress the wind-excited oscillations. The governing equations for a proposed passive system were developed. The wing structure is modelled with finite elements. The deflections are expressed as an expansion in terms of the free-vibration modes. The time-dependent coefficients are the generalized coordinates of the entire dynamic system. The concept of virtual work was extended to develop a method to transfer the aerodynamic loads to the structural nodes. Depending on the speed of the aircraft, the numerical results show damped responses to initial disturbances (although there are no viscous terms in either the aerodynamic or structural model), merging of modal frequencies, the development of limit-cycle oscillations, and the occurrence of a supercritical Hopf bifurcation leading to motion on a torus. / Ph. D.

<p>High performance fighter aircraft such as the F-16 experience aeroelastic Limit Cycle Oscillations (LCO) when they carry certain combinations of under-wing stores. This `store-induced LCO' causes serious problems including airframe fatigue, pilot discomfort and loss of operational effectiveness. The usual response has been to restrict the stores carriage envelope based on flight test experience, and accept the accompanying reduction in mission performance.</p><p>Although several nonlinear mechanisms - structural as well as aerodynamic, have been proposed to explain the LCO phenomenon, their roles are not well understood. Consequently, existing models are unable to predict accurately AND reliably the most critical LCO properties, namely onset speed and response level. On the other hand, the more accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based time marching methodology yields results at much greater expense and time. Clearly, there is a critical need to establish methods that are more rapid while providing accurate predictions more in line with flight test results than at present. Such a capability will also aid in future aircraft design and usage.</p><p>This work was undertaken to develop a better understanding of nonlinear aeroelastic phenomena, and their relation to classical flutter and divergence, with a particular focus on store-induced LCO in high performance fighter aircraft. The following systems were studied: (1) a `simple' wing with a flexible and nonlinear root attachment, (2) a `generic' wing with a flexible and nonlinear wing-store attachment and (3) the F-16 aircraft, again with nonlinear wing-store attachments.</p><p>While structural nonlinearity was present in all cases, steady flow aerodynamic nonlinearity was also included in the F-16 case by the use of a Computational Fluid Dynamics model based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations. However, dynamic linearization of the CFD model was done for the present computations. The computationally efficient Harmonic Balance (HB) nonlinear solution technique was a key component of this work, with time marching simulations and closed form solutions being used selectively to confirm the findings of the HB solutions. The simple wing and the generic wing were both modeled as linear beam-rods whose displacements were represented using the primitive modes method. The wing aerodynamic model was linear (quasi-steady for the simple wing and based on the Vortex Lattice Method for the generic wing), and the store aerodynamics were omitted.</p><p>The presence of a cubic restoring force (of hardening or softening type, in stiffness or in damping) at the root of the simple wing led to several interesting results and insights. Next, various nonlinear mechanisms including cubic restoring force, freeplay and friction were introduced at the wing-store attachment of the generic wing and these led to a still greater variety in behavior. General relationships were established between the type of nonlinearity and the nature of the resulting response, and they proved very useful for tailoring the F-16 study and interpreting its results.</p><p>The Air Force Seek Eagle Office/Air Force Research Laboratory provided a modal structural model of an LCO-prone store configuration of the F-16 aircraft with stores included. In order to investigate a range of stores attachment configurations, the analysis required modification of the stiffness and damping of the wing-store attachment. Since the Finite Element model of the wing and store structure was not available, the modification was achieved by subtracting the store and adding it back with the necessary changes to the store or attachment using a dynamic decoupling/coupling technique. The modified models were subjected to flutter/LCO analysis using the Duke Harmonic Balance CFD RANS solver, and the resulting flutter boundaries were used in combination with the HB method to derive LCO responses due to the wing-store attachment nonlinearity.</p><p>Comparisons were made between the simulation results and the F-16 flight test LCO data. While multiple sources of nonlinearity are probably responsible for the wide range of observed LCO behavior, it was concluded that cubic softening stiffness and positive cubic damping were the more likely structural mechanisms causing LCO, in addition to nonlinear aerodynamics.</p> / Dissertation

There is a need for a nonlinear flutter analysis method capable of predicting limit cycle oscillation in aeroelastic systems. A review is conducted of analysis methods and experiments that have attempted to better understand and model limit cycle oscillation (LCO). The recently developed method of nonlinear normal modes (NNM) is investigated for LCO calculation. Nonlinear normal modes were used to analyze a spring-mass-damper system with nonlinear damping and stiffness to demonstrate the ability and limitations of the method to identify limit cycle oscillation. The nonlinear normal modes method was then applied to an aeroelastic model of a pitch-plunge airfoil with nonlinear pitch stiffness and quasi-steady aerodynamics. The asymptotic coefficient solution method successfully captured LCO at a low relative velocity. LCO was also successfully modeled for the same airfoil with an unsteady aerodynamics model with the use of a first order formulation of NNM. A linear beam model of the Goland wing with a nonlinear aerodynamic model was also studied. LCO was successfully modeled using various numbers of assumed modes for the beam. The concept of modal truncation was shown to extend to NNM. The modal coefficients were shown to identify the importance of each mode to the solution and give insight into the physical nature of the motion. The quasi-steady airfoil model was used to conduct a study on the effect of the nonlinear normal mode's master coordinate. The pitch degree of freedom, plunge degree of freedom, both linear structural mode shapes with apparent mass, and the linear flutter mode were all used as master coordinates. The master coordinates were found to have a significant influence on the accuracy of the solution and the linear flutter mode was identified as the preferred option. Galerkin and collocation coefficient solution methods were used to improve the results of the asymptotic solution method. The Galerkin method reduced the error of the solution if the correct region of integration was selected, but had very high computational cost. The collocation method improved the accuracy of the solution significantly. The computational time was low and a simple convergent iteration method was found. Thus, the collocation method was found to be the preferred method of solving for the modal coefficients. / Ph. D.

Aeroelastic aspects of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is analyzed by treatment of a typical section containing geometrical nonlinearities. Equations of motion are derived and numerical integration of these equations subject to quasi-steady aerodynamic forcing is performed. Model properties are tailored to a high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft. Harmonic balance approximation is employed based on the steady-state oscillatory response of the aerodynamic forcing. Comparisons are made between time integration results and harmonic balance approximation. Close agreement between forcing and displacement oscillatory frequencies is found. Amplitude agreement is off by a considerable margin. Additionally, stochastic forcing effects are examined. Turbulent flow velocities generated from the von Karman spectrum are applied to the same nonlinear structural model. Similar qualitative behavior is found between quasi-steady and stochastic forcing models illustrating the importance of considering the non-steady nature of atmospheric turbulence when operating near critical flutter velocity.

Aeroelasticidade não linear é uma área multidisciplinar e importante em engenharia aeronáutica e aeroespacial. Aeroelasticidade é o estudo do mecanismo de interação entre os esforços aerodinâmicos e dinâmico-estruturais. Os avanços nas técnicas de CFD se concentram nas aplicações de problemas aerodinâmicos cada vez mais complexos, como os fenômenos associados com a formação e movimento das ondas de choque em escoamentos transônicos e escoamentos separados. Com os desenvolvimentos dos códigos de CFD, o tratamento de problemas aeroelásticos por meio de abordagens computacionais é denominado aeroelasticidade computacional. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar uma análise dos efeitos não lineares em aeroelasticidade no domínio do tempo em regime transônico. A metodologia proposta pretende investigar os efeitos não lineares em aerofólios onde são consideradas as não linearidades estruturais e aerodinâmicas. Neste trabalho as não linearidades aerodinâmicas estão associadas à formação e ao passeio das ondas de choque. Nesta situação, verifica-se que a fronteira de ocorrência de flutter é degradada rapidamente na faixa de vôo transônico, onde este fenômeno é denominado de depressão transônica. Dois códigos de CFD foram considerados, ambos baseados na formulação de Euler. Para a solução do sistema aeroelástico no domínio do tempo é aplicado o método Runge-Kutta combinado com o código de CFD. Neste caso, o código de CFD não estacionário é construído em um contexto de malhas não estruturadas. Esta consiste da primeira análise aeroelástica através da metodologia de marcha no tempo utilizando este código de CFD. As respostas aeroelásticas se concentram particularmente para o aerofólio NACA0012 através da história no tempo e retrato de fase para investigar os efeitos típicos não lineares como oscilações em ciclos limite, assim como, são construídas as fronteiras de flutter. Para o cálculo direto da fronteira de flutter é utilizado o código da análise de bifurcação de Hopf, onde o modelo de CFD é baseado no contexto de malhas estruturadas. Em trabalhos anteriores com este código foram obtidas as fronteiras do flutter em perfis e asas simétricos com modelos estruturais lineares. Este trabalho apresenta a primeira análise deste código considerando o modelo estrutural não linear. As não linearidades estruturais concentradas mostraram ter um efeito significativo na resposta aeroelástica podendo ser observadas as oscilações em ciclos limite abaixo da fronteira de flutter. As metodologias de marcha no tempo e análise de bifurcação de Hopf foram comparadas e os resultados apresentaram boa concordância. Isto comprovou a confiabilidade das duas metodologias na análise dos efeitos não lineares em aeroelasticidade. As análises de marcha no tempo com o modelo estrutural não linear também foram realizadas após a ocorrência do flutter e sua influência nas oscilações em ciclos limite foram observadas. / Nonlinear aeroelasticity is a multidisciplinary field, that is important in aeronautics and aerospace engineering. Aeroelasticity can be defined as the science which studies the mutual interaction between aerodynamic and dynamic forces. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has matured to the point where it is being applied to complex problems in external aerodynamics, particulary for phenomena associated with shock motions or separation. These two observations have motivated the development of CFD-based aeroelastic simulation, a fiel now being called computational aeroelasticity. The nonlinearities in the aeroelastic analysis are divided into aerodynamic and structural ones. The aim of this work is concerned with an application of time domain analysis for aeroelastic problems in a transonic flow. The methodology here proposed is to present an investigation on the effects of nonlinearities on airfoil flutter where both aerodynamic and structural concentrated nonlinearities are considered. In this work the aerodynamic nonlinearity arises from the presence of shock waves in transonic flows. In this situation, the unsteady forces generated by motion of the shock wave have been shown to destabilize single degree-of-freedom airfoil pitching motion and affect the bending-torsional flutter by lowering the flutter speed at the so-called transonic dip phenomenon. Two CFD tools are employed in the present work and they are based on the Euler formulation. To solve the aeroelastic problem the Runge-Kutta method is applied combined with the CFD code. In this case, the unsteady CFD tool solves flows in the an unstructured computational domain discretisation. This CFD tool had never been used for time domain aeroelastic analysis before. The responses concerned particularly the NACA0012 airfoil by investigating flutter boundary and typical LCO nonlinear effects from phase plane. For direct flutter boundary calculation, Hopf bifurcation analysis is employed, where the CFD code is based on structured grids for computation domain discretisation. Previous work has demonstrated the scheme for both symmetric airfoil and wing with linear structural model. The current work presents the first investigations of the structural nonlinearities effects with the method. The concentrated nonlinearities show to have significant effects on the aeroelastic responses and to provide limit cycle oscillation (LCO) below the flutter speed. Time marching analysis is performed and compared with direct calculation of Hopf bifurcation points. The results agree well and these computational tools have shown to be powerful to analyse nonlinear effects in aeroelasticity. Post bifurcation behavior is analysed to show influence of nonlinear structural terms on LCO with the time marching solver.

Aeroelasticidade não linear é uma área multidisciplinar e importante em engenharia aeronáutica e aeroespacial. Aeroelasticidade é o estudo do mecanismo de interação entre os esforços aerodinâmicos e dinâmico-estruturais. Os avanços nas técnicas de CFD se concentram nas aplicações de problemas aerodinâmicos cada vez mais complexos, como os fenômenos associados com a formação e movimento das ondas de choque em escoamentos transônicos e escoamentos separados. Com os desenvolvimentos dos códigos de CFD, o tratamento de problemas aeroelásticos por meio de abordagens computacionais é denominado aeroelasticidade computacional. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar uma análise dos efeitos não lineares em aeroelasticidade no domínio do tempo em regime transônico. A metodologia proposta pretende investigar os efeitos não lineares em aerofólios onde são consideradas as não linearidades estruturais e aerodinâmicas. Neste trabalho as não linearidades aerodinâmicas estão associadas à formação e ao passeio das ondas de choque. Nesta situação, verifica-se que a fronteira de ocorrência de flutter é degradada rapidamente na faixa de vôo transônico, onde este fenômeno é denominado de depressão transônica. Dois códigos de CFD foram considerados, ambos baseados na formulação de Euler. Para a solução do sistema aeroelástico no domínio do tempo é aplicado o método Runge-Kutta combinado com o código de CFD. Neste caso, o código de CFD não estacionário é construído em um contexto de malhas não estruturadas. Esta consiste da primeira análise aeroelástica através da metodologia de marcha no tempo utilizando este código de CFD. As respostas aeroelásticas se concentram particularmente para o aerofólio NACA0012 através da história no tempo e retrato de fase para investigar os efeitos típicos não lineares como oscilações em ciclos limite, assim como, são construídas as fronteiras de flutter. Para o cálculo direto da fronteira de flutter é utilizado o código da análise de bifurcação de Hopf, onde o modelo de CFD é baseado no contexto de malhas estruturadas. Em trabalhos anteriores com este código foram obtidas as fronteiras do flutter em perfis e asas simétricos com modelos estruturais lineares. Este trabalho apresenta a primeira análise deste código considerando o modelo estrutural não linear. As não linearidades estruturais concentradas mostraram ter um efeito significativo na resposta aeroelástica podendo ser observadas as oscilações em ciclos limite abaixo da fronteira de flutter. As metodologias de marcha no tempo e análise de bifurcação de Hopf foram comparadas e os resultados apresentaram boa concordância. Isto comprovou a confiabilidade das duas metodologias na análise dos efeitos não lineares em aeroelasticidade. As análises de marcha no tempo com o modelo estrutural não linear também foram realizadas após a ocorrência do flutter e sua influência nas oscilações em ciclos limite foram observadas. / Nonlinear aeroelasticity is a multidisciplinary field, that is important in aeronautics and aerospace engineering. Aeroelasticity can be defined as the science which studies the mutual interaction between aerodynamic and dynamic forces. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has matured to the point where it is being applied to complex problems in external aerodynamics, particulary for phenomena associated with shock motions or separation. These two observations have motivated the development of CFD-based aeroelastic simulation, a fiel now being called computational aeroelasticity. The nonlinearities in the aeroelastic analysis are divided into aerodynamic and structural ones. The aim of this work is concerned with an application of time domain analysis for aeroelastic problems in a transonic flow. The methodology here proposed is to present an investigation on the effects of nonlinearities on airfoil flutter where both aerodynamic and structural concentrated nonlinearities are considered. In this work the aerodynamic nonlinearity arises from the presence of shock waves in transonic flows. In this situation, the unsteady forces generated by motion of the shock wave have been shown to destabilize single degree-of-freedom airfoil pitching motion and affect the bending-torsional flutter by lowering the flutter speed at the so-called transonic dip phenomenon. Two CFD tools are employed in the present work and they are based on the Euler formulation. To solve the aeroelastic problem the Runge-Kutta method is applied combined with the CFD code. In this case, the unsteady CFD tool solves flows in the an unstructured computational domain discretisation. This CFD tool had never been used for time domain aeroelastic analysis before. The responses concerned particularly the NACA0012 airfoil by investigating flutter boundary and typical LCO nonlinear effects from phase plane. For direct flutter boundary calculation, Hopf bifurcation analysis is employed, where the CFD code is based on structured grids for computation domain discretisation. Previous work has demonstrated the scheme for both symmetric airfoil and wing with linear structural model. The current work presents the first investigations of the structural nonlinearities effects with the method. The concentrated nonlinearities show to have significant effects on the aeroelastic responses and to provide limit cycle oscillation (LCO) below the flutter speed. Time marching analysis is performed and compared with direct calculation of Hopf bifurcation points. The results agree well and these computational tools have shown to be powerful to analyse nonlinear effects in aeroelasticity. Post bifurcation behavior is analysed to show influence of nonlinear structural terms on LCO with the time marching solver.

As estruturas aeronáuticas estão sujeitas a uma variedade de fenômenos aeroelásticos que podem comprometer o desempenho das aeronaves. Com o desenvolvimento de novos materiais, essas estruturas têm se tornado mais leves e flexíveis, e portanto mais sujeitas a problemas aeroelásticos, tais como flutter e buffeting. Pesquisadores têm trabalhado em soluções alternativas para resolver esses problemas aeroelásticos indesejáveis. Uma dessas soluções envolve o conceito de estruturas inteligentes, que são aquelas que apresentam atuadores e sensores incorporados, integrado com sistema de controle e processamento de sinal, possibilitando a adaptação do sistema estrutural a mudanças nas condições operacionais. Modelos matemáticos que incorporam elementos atuadores e sensores são de grande importância nas fases preliminares de análise de estruturas aeronáuticas inteligentes. Neste contexto, métodos de modelagem são necessários para capturar a ação da dinâmica estrutural e de carga aerodinâmica. O presente trabalho apresenta o estudo de um controlador difuso ativo para resposta aeroelástica de uma asa inteligente com atuadores piezelétricos incorporados. Características não-lineares da resposta aeroelástica são analisadas para condições críticas de flutter. É utilizado o método de elementos finitos para o modelo estrutural não-linear e o método de malha de vórtices para o modelo aerodinâmico não-estacionário. / Aeronautical structures are submitted to a variety of aeroelastic phenomena that may compromise its performance. With this development of new materials, aeronautical structures have become lighter, more flexible, and more subjected to aeroelastic problems, such as flutter and buffeting. Researchers have been working on alternatives to solve these undesired aeroelastic problems, as the recent concept of smart or intelligent structures. Smart structures are those that present embedded sensors and actuators, integrated with control systems and signal processing, to enable the adaptation of the structural system to changes in the operational conditions. Mathematical models that incorporate actuator elements or sensors are of great importance in preliminary phases of analysis of smart aeronautical structures. In this context, modeling methods are necessary to capture dynamic-structural behavior and unsteady aerodynamic loading. The present work is the study of an active fuzzy controller for aeroelastic response of a smart wing with embedded piezoelectric actuators. Nonlinear characteristics of aeroelastic responses are analyzed for critical flutter conditions. The finite elements method for the nonlinear structural model and vortex-lattice method for the unsteady aerodynamic model has been used.

Effects of engine placement on flutter characteristics of a very flexible high-aspect-ratio wing are investigated using the code NATASHA (Nonlinear Aeroelastic Trim And Stability of HALE Aircraft). The analysis was validated against published results for divergence and flutter of swept wings and found to be in excellent agreement with the experimental results of the classical wing of Goland. Moreover, modal frequencies and damping obtained for the Goland wing were found in excellent agreement with published results based on a new continuum-based unsteady aerodynamic formulation. Gravity for this class of wings plays an important role in flutter characteristics. In the absence of aerodynamic and gravitational forces and without an engine, the kinetic energy of the first two modes are calculated. Maximum and minimum flutter speed locations coincide with the area of minimum and maximum kinetic energy of the second bending and torsion modes. Time-dependent dynamic behavior of a turboshaft engine (JetCat SP5) is simulated with a transient engine model and the nonlinear aeroelastic response of the wing to the engine's time-dependent thrust and dynamic excitation is presented. Below the flutter speed, at the wing tip and behind the elastic axis, the impulse engine excitation leads to a stable limit cycle oscillation; and for the ramp kind of excitation, beyond the flutter speed, at 75% span, behind the elastic axis, it produces chaotic oscillation of the wing. Both the excitations above the flutter speed are stabilized, on the inboard portion of the wing. Effects of engine placement and sweep on flutter characteristics of a backswept flying wing resembling the Horten IV are explored using NATASHA. This aircraft exhibits a non-oscillatory yawing instability, expected in aircraft with neither a vertical tail nor yaw control. More important, however, is the presence of a low frequency “body-freedom flutter” mode. The aircraft center of gravity was held fixed during the study, which allowed aircraft controls to trim similarly for each engine location, and minimized flutter speed variations along the inboard span. Maximum flutter speed occurred for engine placement just outboard of 60% span with engine center of gravity forward of the elastic axis. The body-freedom flutter mode was largely unaffected by the engine placement except for cases in which the engine is placed at the wing tip and near the elastic axis. In the absence of engines, aerodynamics, and gravity, a region of minimum kinetic energy density for the first symmetric free-free bending mode is also near the 60% span. A possible relationship between the favorable flutter characteristics obtained by placing the engines at that point and the region of minimum kinetic energy is briefly explored. Effects of multiple engine placement on a similar type of aircraft are studied. The results showed that multiple engine placement increases flutter speed particularly when the engines are placed in the outboard portion of the wing (60% to 70% span), forward of the elastic axis, while the lift to drag ratio is affected negligibly. The behavior of the sub- and supercritical eigenvalues is studied for two cases of engine placement. NATASHA captures a hump body-freedom flutter with low frequency for the clean wing case, which disappears as the engines are placed on the wings. In neither case is there any apparent coalescence between the unstable modes. NATASHA captures other non-oscillatory unstable roots with very small amplitude, apparently originating with flight dynamics. For the clean-wing case, in the absence of aerodynamic and gravitational forces, the regions of minimum kinetic energy density for the first and third bending modes are located around 60% span. For the second mode, this kinetic energy density has local minima around the 20% and 80% span. The regions of minimum kinetic energy of these modes are in agreement with calculations that show a noticeable increase in flutter speed at these regions if engines are placed forward of the elastic axis. High Altitude, Long Endurance (HALE) aircraft can achieve sustained, uninterrupted flight time if they use solar power. Wing morphing of solar powered HALE aircraft can significantly increase solar energy absorbency. An example of the kind of morphing considered in this thesis requires the wings to fold so as to orient a solar panel to be hit more directly by the sun's rays at specific times of the day. In this study solar powered HALE flying wing aircraft are modeled with three beams with lockable hinge connections. Such aircraft are shown to be capable of morphing passively, following the sun by means of aerodynamic forces and engine thrusts. The analysis underlying NATASHA was extended to include the ability to simulate morphing of the aircraft into a “Z” configuration. Because of the “long endurance” feature of HALE aircraft, such morphing needs to be done without relying on actuators and at as near zero energy cost as possible. The emphasis of this study is to substantially demonstrate the processes required to passively morph a flying wing into a Z-shaped configuration and back again.

As estruturas aeronáuticas estão sujeitas a uma variedade de fenômenos aeroelásticos que podem comprometer o desempenho das aeronaves. Com o desenvolvimento de novos materiais, essas estruturas têm se tornado mais leves e flexíveis, e portanto mais sujeitas a problemas aeroelásticos, tais como flutter e buffeting. Pesquisadores têm trabalhado em soluções alternativas para resolver esses problemas aeroelásticos indesejáveis. Uma dessas soluções envolve o conceito de estruturas inteligentes, que são aquelas que apresentam atuadores e sensores incorporados, integrado com sistema de controle e processamento de sinal, possibilitando a adaptação do sistema estrutural a mudanças nas condições operacionais. Modelos matemáticos que incorporam elementos atuadores e sensores são de grande importância nas fases preliminares de análise de estruturas aeronáuticas inteligentes. Neste contexto, métodos de modelagem são necessários para capturar a ação da dinâmica estrutural e de carga aerodinâmica. O presente trabalho apresenta o estudo de um controlador difuso ativo para resposta aeroelástica de uma asa inteligente com atuadores piezelétricos incorporados. Características não-lineares da resposta aeroelástica são analisadas para condições críticas de flutter. É utilizado o método de elementos finitos para o modelo estrutural não-linear e o método de malha de vórtices para o modelo aerodinâmico não-estacionário. / Aeronautical structures are submitted to a variety of aeroelastic phenomena that may compromise its performance. With this development of new materials, aeronautical structures have become lighter, more flexible, and more subjected to aeroelastic problems, such as flutter and buffeting. Researchers have been working on alternatives to solve these undesired aeroelastic problems, as the recent concept of smart or intelligent structures. Smart structures are those that present embedded sensors and actuators, integrated with control systems and signal processing, to enable the adaptation of the structural system to changes in the operational conditions. Mathematical models that incorporate actuator elements or sensors are of great importance in preliminary phases of analysis of smart aeronautical structures. In this context, modeling methods are necessary to capture dynamic-structural behavior and unsteady aerodynamic loading. The present work is the study of an active fuzzy controller for aeroelastic response of a smart wing with embedded piezoelectric actuators. Nonlinear characteristics of aeroelastic responses are analyzed for critical flutter conditions. The finite elements method for the nonlinear structural model and vortex-lattice method for the unsteady aerodynamic model has been used.