Welcome to the Institute of Flight Systems Engineering. Our work focuses on the interaction between aircraft configuration, pilots and modern flight system technology. From flight dynamics to unmanned aerial vehicles, from simulation to real flight tests - we analyse, test and develop innovations that will shape the flying of the future.
Description
As part of our research in helicopter modeling, we investigate mathematical descriptions of the behavior of periodic systems. Particular emphasis is placed on the computation of Floquet exponents, which characterize the stability of periodic solutions and are therefore critically important for the modeling and control of helicopters. In this context, we have identified an apparent contradiction between the approaches of Arnold (1994) and Peters & Lieb (2009). While Arnold provides clear guidelines for determining the additive term in the imaginary part of the characteristic exponents, Peters & Lieb view the choice of this term as fundamentally arbitrary.
Your objective will be to systematically compare the two approaches, develop an automated computational method, and demonstrate its application through case studies such as the Mathieu differential equation and differential equations describing rotor blade flapping motion.
References:
1. Arnold, U. (1994). Aeromechanische Stabilitätsuntersuchungen zur Rotorstillsetzung bei Verwandlungsdrehflüglern (Vol. 94-03). Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik. https://doi.org/10.24355/dbbs.084-201811261239-0
2. Peters, D. A., & Lieb, S. M. (2009). Significance of Floquet Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors for the Dynamics of Time-Varying Systems. In Annual Forum Proceedings - AHS International (Vol. 3, pp. 2529–2558).
Objectives
- Analysis of the methods by Arnold (1994) and Peters & Lieb (2009) for computing Floquet exponents.
- Review of the theoretical foundations as a basis for the subsequent implementation.
- Development of an automated procedure in MATLAB or Python using the "modal participation" method
- Documentation
Requirements
- Solid knowledge of applied mathematics and physics.
- Experience in programming (e.g., Python, MATLAB, or Julia).
We look forward to getting to know you!
If you have any questions about this position (Vacancy-ID 2219) please contact:
Christoph Keßler
Tel.: +49 531 295 2690