Abstract
In aircraft design, proper tailoring of composite anisotropic characteristics allows to achieve weight saving while maintaining good aeroelastic performance. To further improve the design, dynamic loads and manufacturing constraints should be integrated in the design process. The objective of this paper is to evaluate how the introduction of continuous blending constraints affects the optimum design and the retrieval of the final stacking sequence for a regional aircraft wing. The effect of the blending constraints on the optimum design (1) focuses on static and dynamic loading conditions and identifies the ones driving the optimization and (2) explores the potential weight saving due to the implementation of a manoeuvre load alleviation (MLA) strategy. Results show that while dynamic gust loads can be critical for wing design, in the case of a regional aircraft, their influence is minimal. Nevertheless, MLA strategies can reduce the impact of static loads on the final design in favour of gust loads, underlining the importance of considering such load-cases in the optimisation. In both cases, blending does not strongly affect the load criticality and retrieve a slightly heavier design. Finally, blending constraints confirmed their significant influence on the final discrete design and their capability to produce more manufacturable structures.
Highlights
Aeroelastic tailoring is a research field that received increased attention over the past decades due to the introduction of composite materials in today’s aircraft primary structures and the pressure coming from airlines to develop more efficient aircrafts
In case B, both static and gust loads are considered during the optimisation; the difference between cases A and B reveals the effects of the gust loads on the final design
This paper describes a full preliminary optimization strategy for an aircraft wing composite structure from flight envelop to the blended optimal stacking sequence
Summary
Aeroelastic tailoring is a research field that received increased attention over the past decades due to the introduction of composite materials in today’s aircraft primary structures and the pressure coming from airlines to develop more efficient aircrafts. From an aircraft manufacturer perspectives, aircraft efficiency can be improved by reducing wing structural weight and/or by increasing the wingspan These two aspects have the capability to enhance aircraft performance, but may lead to strong fluid-structures interaction and potential aeroelastic instabilities. While for large composite structures local laminate optimisation can produce a lighter and more efficient design, the optimum design can be characterised by a significant thickness and/or stacking sequence variations between adjacent laminates. In this case, the obtained design could be too expensive to manufacture and might lack structural integrity (Dillinger 2014; IJsselmuiden et al 2009). Ply continuity among adjacent plies (i.e. blending) should be considered early in the design phase
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