Modeling and nonlinear aeroelastic analysis of a wing with morphing trailing edge

Abstract

An investigation was made into the nonlinear aeroelastic behavior of a composite wing with morphing trailing edge actuated by curved beams. Based on the design concept, an experimental wing model was built and a finite element model was created using MSC Patran/Nastran software. Impact test of the experimental model was carried out and the test data were used to validate the finite element models. In order to investigate the effect of freeplay nonlinearity between discs attached to the curved beams and wing skins, a nonlinear aeroelastic equation in modal coordinate was created. Generalized structural mass, damping, and stiffness matrixes were printed with DMAP language in Nastran. Doublet lattice method and Roger’s approximation were used to calculate unsteady aerodynamic influence coefficients matrix. In the analysis, the effect of morphing stiffness on critical flutter speed was studied. In addition, Hopf bifurcation and limit cycle oscillation were detected for the aeroelastic system with freeplay. The results show that the freeplay nonlinearity may reduce convergence speed and accelerate divergence of aeroelastic responses.