ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF AEROACOUSTIC INSTABILITIES

This paper describes an experimental investigation of adaptive control algorithms applied to aeroacoustic instabilities. The study is carried out on a cold flow experimental rig, designed to reproduce the essential features of acoustically coupled vortex shedding. This mechanism is the source of thrust oscillations in large segmented solid rocket motors. It is also found in a wide variety of combustion instabilities. Two adaptive control strategies are investigated and selected experimental results are reported. These results show the feasibility of control. The effect of the controller on the instability mechanism is analyzed and improvements to the control strategy are proposed.