Design of Experiment for Increased Fidelity Aeroelastic Testing
D.O. Baxi (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
J Sodja – Mentor (TU Delft - Group Sodja)
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Abstract
Modern high–aspect–ratio aircraft wings are sensitive to unsteady aerodynamic loading, creating a need for simplified but accurate structural models to support aeroelastic analysis and testing. This work focuses on designing and structurally modelling a flexible aircraft wing for free-flight wind tunnel experiments at TU Delft’s Open Jet Facility. A rectangular wing with 0.75 m span was developed to balance experimental feasibility with sufficient flexibility to exhibit measurable aeroelastic effects. A finite element model in ANSYS was used to extract span-wise bending, torsional, and inertia properties, which were condensed into a four-section equivalent beam model. The beam was numerically validated against the finite element wing through static and modal analyses, achieving close agreement in both deformation and natural frequencies. Modal Assurance Criterion analysis further confirmed the strong correlation of the dominant mode shapes. The validated beam reflects the essential structural dynamic properties of the wing while remaining computationally efficient, providing a reduced-order foundation for future gust simulations and hybrid wind tunnel testing.