Influence of Flap Angle on the Aeroelastic Behavior of Wing- Flap Configuration Using Fully Coupled Structure-Fluid Interaction Model

Abstract

The influence of trailing edge flap angle on the aeroelastic behavior of a vibratingwing-flap configuration is investigated in this work. For this purpose an aeroelasticnumerical model with fully coupled structure-fluid interaction is developed. The flowand structural solvers are coupled via successive iterations within each physical timestep. The aerodynamic model is based on a hybrid unsteady panel method which is stilla good approach to calculate the unsteady loads. While the nonlinear plate equationsolved by an assumed mode method is used to represent the structure wing model. Theresults for a vibrating rectangular wing-flap configuration in low subsonic attachedflow are presented, including the effect of flap angle on the unsteady pressurecoefficient, time history of lifting coefficient and aeroelastic behavior of the wing.These results clearly show the effect of strong structure-fluid interaction and illustratethe utility of the present model which may be used in the preliminary stage of the wingdesign.