04.2 - Aerostructures Design, Structural Dynamics, Aeroelasticity
INVESTIGATING AN OPTIMAL AEROELASTIC DESIGN FOR AIRCRAFT WINGS WITH DISTRIBUTED PROPELLERS MADE OF COMPOSITES
M. Abouhamzeh, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom; Y. Ma, Bauhaus Aviation Research Institute, Germany
Promoting novel technologies to exclude carbon emissions from the civil aviation has initiated research on distributed propulsion. Specifically, features needed for electric aviation can benefit from a distributed propeller wing technology in terms of aero-propulsive efficiency which is crucial regarding the space needed for the battery cells. In order to have a structural design tool in preliminary phases, this paper presents the development of a coupled aeroelastic optimization tool for structural sizing of the wing. The structural modelling implements the geometrically nonlinear response of the composite material. The formulation is based on thin to moderately thick composite wings. Transverse shear deformations and moderate twist angles are taken into account, making it proper for the preliminary design of such structures. Based on the procedure for coupling the aerodynamic and structural fields for optimization, the results are proposed for the final version of this paper.