Coupled Aeroelastic Vortex Lattice Modeling of Flexible Aircraft

Abstract

This paper presents a recently developed computational tool for aeroelastic analysis of aircraft performance. The computational tool couples a vortex-lattice code, Vorview, with an aeroelastic model that computes wing structural deflections under a combined coupled bending-torsion motion. The aeroelastic model of the wing structure is based on a one-dimensional structural dynamic theory using steady state aerodynamics assumption. An automated aircraft geometry modeler is developed to generate a deformed aircraft geometry based on the structural deflection aeroelastic analysis. The computation is iterated until the solution converges within a specified error tolerance. This computational tool is capable to predict both steady state aerodynamics as well as aeroelastically induced unsteady aerodynamics. Simulations are conducted for a generic transport aircraft to demonstrate the capability of the computational tool.