Unsteady lift estimation using distributed pressure sensing in the presence of uncertainty

The estimation of fluid dynamic loads using distributed pressure sensors is of practical interest to engineers designing systems that are meant to operate in unsteady environments. In this work, a wing model instrumented with 48 pressure sensors is used to experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of different sensing configurations. Simultaneous pressure and force data are collected for wings undergoing unsteady kinematics as well as encountering transverse gusts. Methods of varying fidelity are assessed in their ability to predict lift from sparse measurements. Emphasis is placed on discovering configurations that minimize the uncertainty of the estimated loads, across a variety of unsteady flows.