Master thesis and internship[BR]- Master's thesis : Development of an aero-servo-elastic model for the Cessna 172.[BR]- Integration Internship

Abstract

This thesis presents a method to calculate the stability derivatives and to solve the longitudinal equations of motion of an aircraft like the Cessna 172 through numerical simulation using a source and doublet panel method. Normally, the methods used in the conceptual studies of an aircraft's dynamics, before flight testing and experiments, are empirical methods, based on statistical data from many previous aircraft. By using the source and doublet panel method, this thesis proposes a higher fidelity approach that does not require previous data. Then, there is no need to rely on approximations, the results are obtained only by introducing the geometry and the flight conditions. For the modelling of the aircraft, the centre of mass and moments of inertia are estimated through classical methods. Then, the aerodynamics forces generated by the aircraft and the moments produced around the centre of gravity are calculated using the source and doublet panel method. The longitudinal static stability of the aircraft is studied at all the different configurations of payload and fuel quantity. Moreover, the longitudinal dynamic stability is evaluated around the trimmed state, obtaining the characteristic values for the two longitudinal modes, phugoid and short period, as well as the response to different control inputs at the elevator, the unforced response after a perturbed initial condition, reaching damped oscillations and an stable behaviour. The results obtained are typical results for an aircraft of these characteristics, which are compared to values from the aircraft Ryan Navion.