Pseudoelastic shape memory alloys to mitigate the flutter instability: A numerical study

A passive control of aeroelastic instabilities on a two-degrees-of-freedom (dofs) system is considered here using shape memory alloys (SMA) springs in their pseudo-elastic regime. SMA present a solid-solid phase change that allow them to face strong deformations (∼10%); in the pseudo-elastic regime, an hysteresis loop appears in the stress-strain relationship which in turn gives rise to an important amount of dissipated energy. This property makes the SMA a natural candidate for mitigating undesired vibrations in a passive manner. A 2-dofs system is used here to model the classical flutter instability of a wing section in a uniform flow. The SMA spring is selected to act on the pitch in order to dissipate energy of the predominant motion. A simple phenomenological model for the SMA hysteresis loop is introduced, allowing for a quantitative study of the important parameters to optimize in view of an experimental design. Thanks to a simple phenomenological model for the SMA hysteresis loop, a quantitative numerical study is performed in order to exhibit the best tuning of the material parameters for controlling the flutter instability.