Tightly coupled aeroelastic model implementation dedicated to fast aeroelastic tailoring optimisation of high aspect ratio composite wing

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a code, called GEBTAero, dedicated to very flexible aircraft (VFA) aeroelasticity and especially the evaluation of aeroelastic tailoring effect on critical speeds. GEBTAero is an open source code consisting in a tightly coupling between a geometrically exact beam theory -and a finite state induced flow unsteady aerodynamic model, including an homogenisation tool. This model has been implemented in Fortran using GEBT code and optimised open source libraries with particular focus on computation speed. Besides a non linear transient dynamic simulation capacity, a particular focus is put on the fast critical speed computation strategy using a non-iterative modal approach about the geometrically non linear deformed shape of the wing with the computation of only a few aeroelastic modes. Computation speed and accuracy of this implementation is assessed using widely used aeroelastic test cases and compared successfully to other aeroelastic codes. Configurations using aeroelastic tailoring, which are the core target of this solver, are then evaluated numerically on a representative high aspect ratio anisotropic composite wing and a simple 2-ply composite laminates with both variable ply orientations. It illustrates the strong correlation between the structural bending/twisting coupling of an unbalanced composite laminates and its critical aeroelastic speed. It also shows the high sensitivity of ply orientation on the aeroelastic behaviour.