Abstract
Commercial jets usually have relatively low-aspect-ratio wings, in spite of the associated benefits of increasing the wing aspect-ratio, such as higher lift-to-drag ratios and ranges. This is partially explained by the fact that the wing becomes more flexible by increasing the aspect-ratio that results in higher deflections which can cause aeroelastic instability problems such as flutter. An aeroelastic computational framework capable of evaluating the effects of geometric non-linearities on the aeroelastic performance of high-aspect-ratio wings has been developed and validated using numerical and experimental data. In this work, the aeroelastic performance of a base wing model with 20 m span and 1 m chord is analysed and the effect of changing the wing chord or the taper-ratio is determined. The non-linear static aeroelastic equilibrium solutions are compared in terms of drag polar, root bending moment and natural frequencies, and the change in the flutter speed boundary is assessed as a function of aspect-ratio using a time-marching approach.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 21-53 |
Number of pages | 33 |
Journal | Aeronautical Journal |
Volume | 121 |
Issue number | 1235 |
Early online date | 20 Sept 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 31 Jan 2017 |
Keywords
- aeroelasticity
- aircraft design
- and taper-ratio variation
- high-aspect-ratio
- non-linear aeroelasticity
- wing chord