Interaction of fluids and structures for aircraft applications

Abstract

Strong interactions occur between the flow about an aircraft and its structural components, which result in several important aeroelastic phenomena. These aeroelastic phenomena can significantly influence the performance of aircraft. At present, closed-form solutions are available for aeroelastic computations when flows are in either linear subsonic or supersonic range. However, for complex nonlinear flows containing shock waves, vortices and flow separations, computational methods are still under development. Several phenomena that can be dangerous and can limit the performance of an aircraft are due to the interaction of these complex flows with flexible aircraft components such as wings. For example, aircraft with highly swept wings experience vortex-induced aeroelastic oscillations. The simulation of these complex aeroelastic phenomena requires coupling the fluid and structural analysis. This paper provides a summary of the development of such coupled methods and their applications to aeroelasticity. Results based on the transonic small perturbation equations and the Euler equations are presented.