Static and Dynamic Aeroelastic Analysis of a Very Light Aircraft

H. Gul Demirer and Altan Kayran

Aircraft design processes need to ensure that the aircraft will be aeroelastically stable within its operational envelope. This paper presents an overview of the static aeroelastic analysis results, flutter analysis and gust response analysis results of a very light aircraft. MSC.FlightLoads and MSC.Nastran are used for aeroelastic modeling and analysis. Aerodynamic calculations are based on the Doublet-Lattice Method (DLM), the aerodynamic theory employed by Nastran for subsonic flows. DLM requires all lifting surfaces to be parallel to the free stream. In this study, aerodynamic load distribution is corrected by including the camber and the angle of incidence of the wing through the addition of initial downwash to the aerodynamic mesh. DLM correction resulted in considerable changes in trim variables and aerodynamic pressure distribution outputs of static aeroelastic analysis. It is revealed by dynamic aeroelastic stability analysis that there is no flutter issue within the flight envelope and the flutter speed is much greater than the dive speed. Dynamic response analyses indicated that the response of the aircraft dies out in a short time and the model shows a dynamically stable behavior.

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