City Research Online

Abstract

Although flutter analysis is a relatively old problem in aviation, it is still challenging, particularly with the advent of composite materials and requirements for high-speed light airframes. The main challenge for this problem is at the transonic flow region. The transonic flow, being non-linear, poses a great challenge over traditional linear theories which fail to predict the aerodynamic properties accurately. Aerospace has been one of the primary areas of applications to take advantage of composite materials with the aim to reduce the total mass and improve control effectiveness. This work takes advantage of CFD methods advancement as the main flow solver for non-linear governing equations. In order to investigate the dynamic behaviour of composite aircraft wings, the dynamic stiffness method (DSM) for bending-torsion composite beam is used to compute the free vibration natural modes. The main objective of this work is coupling the dynamic stiffness method (DSM) with high fidelity computational fluid dynamics models in order to predict the transonic flutter of composite aircraft wings accurately and efficiently. In addressing the main aim of this study, Euler fluid flow solvers of an open source CFD code called OpenFOAM has been coupled with elastic composite wing, represented by the free vibration modes computed by DSM. The first part of this study is devoted to investigating the free vibration characteristics of two types of aircraft, namely sailplane type and transport airliner type. Two models of each type have been analysed and contrasted, which revealed the significance of the natural modes of aircraft wings and how these modes inherently capture the essential characteristics of the system. Then to validate the CFD code, two pitching and self-sustained two degrees of freedom airfoils under different flow condition have been modelled. The results have been compared against experimental measurements and numerical data from the literature which showed good agreement for the predicted force coefficients. Finally, the model has been extended to study a complete aircraft wing. Both metallic and composite Goland wings have been investigated under a wide range of flow conditions. The composite wing has been investigated using different material coupling values to show their effect on its aeroelastic behaviour. The results showed the significant influence of the material coupling on the aeroelastic characteristics of composite wings.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	T Technology > TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
Departments:	Doctoral Theses School of Science & Technology > School of Science & Technology Doctoral Theses School of Science & Technology > Engineering

Export

Downloads