Freeplay-induced limit cycle oscillation mitigation using linear and nonlinear tuned vibration absorbers

Structural nonlinearities such as freeplay in control surface bearings and actuators or in connections between wings and external payloads sometimes lead to aeroelastic limit cycle oscillations at airspeeds lower than the linear flutter speed of the aircraft. In parallel, numerous studies demonstrated the potential of linear and nonlinear tuned vibration absorbers to increase the flutter speed of linear and continuously hardening aeroelastic systems such as two-degree- of-freedom wings or long span bridges. In this work, the effect of linear and nonlinear tuned vibration absorbers is studied on a wing with pitch plunge and control surface deflection degrees of freedom and with freeplay in pitch. Depending on the tuning of the linear absorber, the linear flutter speed of the system can be increased by 10% or the onset of limit cycle oscillations due to the freeplay can be delayed by 7.7% and their amplitude can be significantly decreased. The addition of cubic hardening forces on the absorber can further decrease the limit cycle amplitude in a limited airspeed range at the cost of an increase in limit cycle amplitude in another airspeed range. Conversely, the addition of a freeplay hardening force on the absorber can decrease the limit cycle amplitude without any detrimental effect.