Application of Aeroelastic Tailoring for Load Alleviation on a Flying Demonstrator Wing †

Application of Aeroelastic Tailoring for Load Alleviation on a Flying Demonstrator Wing †

Krüger, Wolf R. (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR))
Meddaikar, M.Y. (TU Delft Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR))
Dillinger, J.K.S. (TU Delft Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR))
Sodja, J. (TU Delft Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics)
De Breuker, R. (TU Delft Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics)

2022

This article presents the application of aeroelastic tailoring in the design of wings for a flying demonstrator, as well as the validation of the design methodology with flight test results. The investigations were performed in the FLEXOP project (Flutter Free Flight Envelope Expansion for Economical Performance Improvement), funded under the Horizon 2020 framework. This project aimed at the validation of methods and tools for active flutter control, as well as at the demonstration of the potential of passive load alleviation through composite tailoring. The technologies were to be demonstrated by the design, manufacturing and flight testing of an unmanned aerial vehicle of approximately 7 m wingspan. This article addresses the work towards the load alleviation goals. The design of the primary load-carrying wing-box in this task is performed using a joint DLR–TU Delft optimization strategy. Two sets of wings are designed in order to demonstrate the potential benefits of aeroelastic tailoring—first, a reference wing in which the laminates of the wing-box members are restricted to balanced and symmetric laminates; second, a tailored wing in which the laminates are allowed to be unbalanced, hence allowing for the shear–extension and bending–torsion couplings essential for aeroelastic tailoring. Both designs are numerically optimized, then manufactured and extensively tested to validate and improve the simulation models corresponding to the wing designs. Flight tests are performed, the results of which form the basis for the validation of the applied aeroelastic tailoring approach presented in the article.

aeroelastic tailoring
composite optimization
FLEXOP
load alleviation
UAV

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e3a5159f-df96-48f1-b7ac-3268cbc6c22a

https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace9100535

2226-4310

Aerospace, 9 (10)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 Wolf R. Krüger, M.Y. Meddaikar, J.K.S. Dillinger, J. Sodja, R. De Breuker