Investigation of Computational Non-Linear Aeroelastic Response of High Aspect Ratio Wing

Abstract

Aircrafts with high aspect ratio wings are most eligible candidates for high altitude and long endurance flights. Such wings show a non-linear deformation behavior because of structural geometric non-linearity. In the present study both linear and non-linear static aeroelastic behaviors of a high aspect ratio rectangular flat plate wing are analyzed using a simplified approach. The main emphasis lies in the tremendous change of lift distribution on the flexible high aspect ratio wing when large deflections are incorporated in the static aeroelastic analysis. The computational static aeroelastic simulations are performed in the finite element method based commercial software ANSYS-14. The aerodynamic load is calculated using the strip theory. Since the aero-load changes with the twisting deformation hence a user defined script is written using ANSYS parametric design language (APDL). The computationally achieved divergence velocity results are compared with the analytical results. The results of parametric study at different flight load conditions and angles of attack have highlighted the role of geometric nonlinearities in both bending and twisting deformations. The impact of follower pressure forces on the aeroelastic response is also investigated.