Dynamic aeroelastic tailoring of a strut braced wing including fatigue loads

Abstract

High aspect ratio strut braced aircraft can significantly reduce the induced drag. The inherent anisotropic behaviour of the composite material along with their weight saving potential can improve the performance of the aircraft during the flight. Thus, a composite strut braced aircraft is one of the promising candidates to achieve the targets set by the European Commission in Flightpath 2050 report. In their previous works, authors have developed methodologies to include gust loads using a reduced order model and account for fatigue loads through an analytical model. In this paper, previously developed methodologies are used, to carry out a stiffness and thickness optimization of a composite strut braced wing which includes critical gust loads as well as fatigue loads. The results show that a composite strut braced wing is sized by both dynamic as well as static load cases. Additionally, by accounting for fatigue through analytical model instead of a knockdown factor, a lighter wing can be obtained.