26th Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences
including the 8th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations (ATIO) Conference
14 - 19 September 2008, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Paper ICAS 2008-7.7.4

UNSTEADY AERO-ELASTIC COUPLING FOR THE F/A-18 VERTICAL TAIL BUFFETING

M. Guillaume, J. Vos*, A. Gehri, B. Bucher, S. Merazzi**, T. Ludwig**, G. Mandanis***
RUAG Aerospace, Switzerland; *CFS Engineering, Switzerland; **SMR SA, Switzerland; ***M@M GmbH, Switzerland

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics, Loads, Fluid Structure Coupling

The dynamic impact on the vertical tail was not considered in Swiss F/A-18 fatigue test. To assess the buffeting on the vertical tail an unsteady aero-elastic coupling tool was developed. The dynamic fatigue analysis showed a higher damage rate at the vertical tail due to buffeting cycles.

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