Within the framework of the EU-funded HERWINGT project, led on the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology – Politecnico di Milano side by Prof. Sergio Ricci, the ASDL Aero-Structural Design Laboratory team - composed of Francesco Toffol, Elena Roncolini, and Giovanni Marco Carossa - successfully tested Active Load Control technologies for the reduction of gust and manoeuvre loads on a scaled aero-servo-elastic wind-tunnel model.
The experimental campaign was carried out at the large wind-tunnel facility of Politecnico di Milano, GVPM, where the effectiveness of different control strategies was assessed under several gust conditions.
The model, designed and assembled by the team, embeds high-bandwidth actuators, onboard flight control computers, and sensors to command the control surfaces for aeroelastic control purposes.
The demonstrator is representative of the UERA - Ultra Efficient Regional Aircraft - platform developed within the CleanAviation programme under HorizonEurope.
It features a remarkable aspect ratio of 16 and is equipped with an additional control surface specifically devoted to aeroelastic control.
This milestone represents an important step towards the validation of active control technologies for future regional aircraft, with potential benefits in terms of safety, structural efficiency, and passenger comfort in turbulent conditions.
Many thanks to the department's Aerodynamics Laboratory and its staff.