Structural Modeling and Aeroelastic Analysis of High-Aspect-Ratio Composite Wings

A unified structural model for high-aspect-ratio composite wing with arbitrary cross-section is developed. Two types of lay-ups of the composite wing, namely, circumferentially uniform stiffness (CUS) configuration and circumferentially asymmetric stiffness (CAS) configuration, are investigated. The present structural modeling method is validated through ANSYS FEM software for the case of a composite box beam. Then, the case of a single-cell composite wing with NACA0012 airfoil shape is considered. To investigate the aeroelastic problem of high-aspect-ratio composite wings, the linear ONERA aerodynamic model is used to model the unsteady aerodynamic loads under the case of small angle of attack. Finally, flutter speeds of the high-aspect-ratio wing with various composite ply angles are determined by using U-g method.