Structural Design and Analysis of a Light Aircraft Wing

Abstract

The aim of this study is to perform structural design and analysis of a light aircraft wing. Both aerodynamic analysis and structural design of the wing are covered. The aerodynamic analysis is achieved by using Schrenks Approximation Method simulated in MATLAB to estimate the lift distribution. In addition, static stress analysis of the wing is carried out to compute the stresses at wing structure when subjected to the generated aerodynamic loads and thereby examine its structural reliability. The stresses are estimated by using the finite element software package MSC/NASTRAN/PATRAN. A maximum Von Mises stress of 135MPa is obtained which is less than the yield stress for aluminum alloy used in wing design. On the other hand, and based on the finite element model, a free-vibration analysis is performed for the whole model. The frequencies for the first three modes and the corresponding mode shapes are presented. The purpose of this study is to correlate and validate the finite element model against the modal test in preparation for further complex analysis. The finite element results have shown that the suggested wing configuration of the light aircraft is safe, with margins of safety equal to 1.33 which occurs at the root section.