Abstract
In this work, the static aeroelastic behavior of flexible aircraft with a high aspect ratio wing undergoing large static deformations has been investigated analytically and numerically. Toward this end, a nonlinear structural model based on a simple one-dimensional nonlinear beam theory is used. An efficient evaluation of static deformation of the entire high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) airplane is developed by adopting the single beam model to the wing, the fuselage, the vertical fin, and the tail, and merging all the substructures together. This model can deal with arbitrarily large displacements and rotations of the whole airplane by use of Euler angles and can account for various structural couplings. Static results due to simple external loads are shown for demonstration. Then, the paper discusses coupling the beam model with several aerodynamic models to investigate the static aeroelastic performance of the high aspect ratio wing. Comparisons of the aerodynamic tools are made in terms of numerical efficiency, simplicity, and further applications. Among these aerodynamic models, the unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM) is given special attention since it offers convenient and accurate prospects in analyzing the dynamic behavior of the HALE aircraft.
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Acknowledgments
The first author gratefully acknowledges the NUS Research Scholarship program, which has been providing the financial support throughout the research period.
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 30 • Issue 1 • January 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 12, 2015
Accepted: May 3, 2016
Published online: Jul 28, 2016
Discussion open until: Dec 28, 2016
Published in print: Jan 1, 2017
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