Nonlinear Aeroelasticity of Very Flexible UAVs
With the developed framework, the nonlinear aeroelastic behavior of different very flexible aircraft configurations has been explored. The effect of the geometrically nonlinear deformations associated with the highly flexible wings and the coupling between aeroelasticity and flight dynamics has been shown to be critical in different aspects of the aircraft’s aeroelastic characteristics. The nonlinear aeroelastic analysis includes:
- Geometrically nonlinear steady-state calculation
- Trim analysis
- Nonlinear time-marching analysis
- Gust response analysis
- Flutter boundary and modes prediction
- Stress and strength analysis
Shown below is a sample movie of the response of a very flexible aircraft subject to different gust perturbation (red: mild gust, green: medium gust, blue: strong gust). The vehicle flies from the right to the left.