Numerical Aeroelastic Analysis of a High-Aspect-Ratio Wing Considering Skin Flexibility

Abstract

Aeroelastic deformation of the high-aspect-ratio wing from a solar-powered UAV will definitely lead to the difference of its performance between design and actual flight. In the present study, the numerical fluid–structural coupling analysis of a wing with skin flexibility is performed by a loosely coupled partitioned approach. The bidirectional coupling framework is established by combining an in-house developed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code with a computational structural dynamics (CSD) analysis solver and a time-adaptive coupling strategy is integrated in it to improve the computational stability and efficiency of the process. With the proposed method, the fluid–structure interactions between the wing and fluid are simulated, and the results are compared between the deformed wing and its rigid counterpart regarding the aerodynamic coefficients, transition location, and flow structures at large angles of attack. It can be observed that after deformation, the laminar transition on the upper surface is triggered earlier at small angles of attack and the stall characteristic becomes worse. The calculated difference in aerodynamic performance between the deformed and the designed rigid wing can help designers better understand the wing’s real performance in the preliminary stage of design.