Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of Aircraft Wings With High Aspect Ratios by Transfer Function Method

International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics
Vol. 18, No. 12 (2018) 1850150 (32 pages)

#.c World Scienti¯c Publishing Company
DOI: 10.1142/S021945541850150X
by UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS on 07/19/18. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.
Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of Aircraft Wings with High

Aspect Ratios by Transfer Function Method
Jing Bo Duan*,‡ and Zhong Yuan Zhang†

*Department of Engineering Mechanics
Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, East 2nd Ring Road
Int. J. Str. Stab. Dyn. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com
Shijiazhuang 050043, P. R. China

†
Department of UAV Engineering
Army Engineering University, Heiping Road
Shijiazhuang 050003, P. R. China
‡duanjingbo@stdu.edu.cn
Received 2 November 2017

Accepted 23 May 2018
Published 4 July 2018
A new method is developed for the aeroelastic stability analysis of a high-aspect-ratio wing
based on the transfer function. First, the °utter governing equations for three types of wing
elements including clear wing element, wing element with a control surface and that with an
external store are, respectively, established by combining the corresponding bend-twist vibra-
tion model with the Theodrosen's unsteady aerodynamic model. Then, in order to use the
transfer function method, the element governing equations are processed by the Fourier
transform and are formulated in a state-space form using state vector. Based on the ¯nite
element procedure, the global governing equations of the whole wing are obtained. Both the
°utter velocity and °utter frequency are derived by solving a complex eigenvalue problem with
the graphical approach. Additionally, the torsional divergence of the high-aspect-ratio wing is
obtained by solving a real eigenvalue problem, which is a degenerated form of the wing °utter
governing equations. Finally, illustrative examples are prepared to demonstrate the validity of
the present method, which is insensitive to mesh density and does not require structural modal
analysis for aeroelastic stability.
Keywords: Aeroelastic stability; °utter; torsional divergence; high aspect ratio; aircraft wing;
transfer function method.
1. Introduction
The increasing role of aeroelastic analysis as an important reference in the structural
design and aerodynamic shape optimization of aircrafts demands a better under-
standing of aeroelastic mechanization. In particular, a high-aspect-ratio wing1 is
usually adopted in the design of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to obtain good
‡
Corresponding author.
1850150-1
J. B. Duan & Z. Y. Zhang
Fig. 1. The high-aspect-ratio wing of the UAV.

aerodynamic characteristics, which brings an unneglectable aeroelastic problem and

urgently require an aeroelastic analysis. As shown in Fig. 1, the high-aspect-ratio
wing of the reconnaissance/attack UAV owns not only multiple control surfaces such
as ailerons and °aps, but also multiple external stores, which increases the di±culty
of aeroelastic analysis. Besides, \Helios", the solar-powered drone from USA also
owns a high-aspect-ratio wing. Its wingspan is approximately 75.3 m and the aspect
ratio is up to 31, which brings both the structural and pneumatic nonlinear e®ect for
the aircraft aeroelasticity. So, it is an essential step to develop an e®ective and
e±cient methodology for quickly predicting the aeroelastic performance of the high-
aspect-ratio wing of this kind of aircraft in the design process.
There are two main kinds of approaches available for aeroelsticity, which are
experiment test and numerical calculation, respectively. However, it is exceedingly
di±cult, dangerous and costly to test the aeroelastic characteristics of the aircraft in
wind tunnel or by real °ight. As a remedy, the numerical calculation is a valid
selection for aeroelastic analysis. Since 1935, Theodorsen2 successfully obtained the
exact solution of the unsteady aerodynamic model for the two-dimensional wing with
an elevator on the condition of resonance oscillation, which laid the foundation for
the wing °utter analysis. Gradually, a serious of linear unsteady aerodynamic models
had been developed for calculating lift distributions on oscillating wings, such as
kernel function method,3 doublet-lattice method,4–6 slip theory,7 piston theory8 and
so on. Particularly, the extensive application of the ¯nite element method (FEM) in
structural dynamic analysis extremely boosts the development of linear aeroelas-
ticity.9–11 Now, aeroelasticity of the high-aspect-ratio wing has attracted much at-
tention of researchers, who have carried out their works to improve the
computational methods. Hodeges et al.12,13 investigated the static aeroelastic
behaviors based on computational °uid dynamics (CFD) models. The wing was
modeled by Hodges–Dowell beam and the aerodynamic force is calculated by Euler
equations. Garcia14 studied the static aeroelastic properties of a high-aspect-ratio
wing on the range of transonic speed by coupling FEM and N-S equations. Palacois
1850150-2
Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of Aircraft Wings with High Aspect Ratios
and Cesnik,15 and Beran et al.16 performed their researches on static aeroelastic
problems of super high-aspect-ratio wing and wing-body based on °uid-structure
coupled method. Tang and Dowell17 adopted the nonlinear beam theory and
ONERA aerodynamic model to implement the research on the °utter and limit cycle
oscillation (LCO) of the high-aspect-ratio wing. Wang et al.18 conducted nonlinear
aeroelastic analysis for the wing of the long-endurance drone under wind excitation
and °ow separation. Kim19 adopted numerical analysis on nonlinear aeroelasticity of
the high-aspect-ratio wing, which possesses geometric nonlinear deformation. Wang
et al.20,21 established a structural dynamic model for the high °exible drone with
consideration of geometric nonlinear e®ect through deducing tangent sti®ness matrix
and mass matrix based on C-R ¯nite element method. Yang et al.22 developed a
calculation procedure of their aeroelastic analysis method for the high aspect ratio
wing based on the commercial software MSC. Nastran. Xie et al.23 settled the °utter
of the high-aspect-ratio wing by combining the reduced generalized mass matrix and
sti®ness matrix under the large static deformation and the generalized aerodynamic
matrix obtained by Therodrson's unsteady aerodynamic model. Xie et al.24 also
investigated the in°uence of the high-aspect-ratio °exible wing deformation on
nonlinear °utter characteristics under the action of follow-up load based on struc-
tural ¯nite element model and plane dipole lattice method. Zhang et al.25 performed
their researches on aeroelastic stability of the high-aspect-ratio wing under lateral
follow-up force. Recently, Xie et al.26 implemented wind tunnel experiments on high-
aspect-ratio °exible wings to verify the good precision of their theoretical analysis.
Niu et al.27 dealt with the nonlinear thermal °utter problem of the supersonic aircraft
through di®erential quadrature method. Besides, to obtain °utter velocity and
°utter frequency of the aircraft wing, two classical methods suggested in 1950s to
1970s are extensively used.28 One is V –g method, by which the aeroelastic problem is
translated into a complex eigenvalue problem. The other is p–k method, by which the
aeroelastic problem is translated into a real one. However, for both of the above two
methods, the structural modal of the aircraft wing must be obtained ¯rstly, which is
time-consuming and a®ects the computational accuracy.
In this study, the °utter analysis of the high-aspect-ratio wing with control sur-
faces and external stores is investigated by the transfer function method, which is a
powerful semi-analytical and semi-numerical method and is often applied to the
static and dynamic analysis of bars, beams and plates. As for the transfer function
method, Yang29,30 ¯rstly suggested it for one-dimensional free vibration of beams
and bars. Then, Zhou and his assistants31,32 further developed this method for two-
dimensional and three-dimensional structural analyses such as planar stress pro-
blems, vibration of plates and conical shells and so on. Currently, transfer function
method has been expended for much more mechanical and physical problems. For
example, Feng33 used the transfer function method to analyze di®used planar optical
wave guides. Li34 gave a dynamic analysis of the passive constrained layer damping
structure by the transfer function method. Mohammad35 concerned with the free
vibration of a gabled frame with rotational springs at intersecting joints by using the
1850150-3
transfer function method. Chung36 analyzed the vibration of planar frame structures
with the transfer function method. Zhao37 developed the transfer function method
for the mechanical analysis of nonlocal elastic and viscoelastic structure elements.
Shen38 obtained dynamic behaviors of carbon nanotubes via the transfer function
method. The purpose of this work is to develop the transfer function method for the
aeroelastic analysis of high-aspect-ratio aircraft wings.
2. Basic Equations
2.1. Structural model of a high-aspect ratio wing
2.1.1. Discretization for the wing along the wingspan direction
Generally, physical and geometrical parameters of the high-aspect ratio aircraft
wing, such as the bend sti®ness, the twist sti®ness, the chord length and so on, change
along the wingspan direction. So, similar to the spirit of the FEM, the aircraft wing is
divided into a couple of elements along the wingspan direction as shown in Fig. 2.
Since the high-aspect-ratio wing has external stores and control surfaces, there are
totally three types of wing elements including the clear wing element, the wing
element with an external store and the wing element with a control surface. The
sections of the three types of wing elements are respectively shown in Fig. 3 and the
corresponding structural equations are respectively established as follows.
2.1.2. The clear wing element

Firstly, consider a clear wing element denoted as the jth element of the whole
structure. The length of the element is lj . A rectangular coordinate system O-xyz is
set up with an origin at the intersection of the root and the elastic axis of the wing, as
(a) Front view of the wing
(b) Vertical view of the wing
Fig. 2. A general high-aspect-ratio wing.
1850150-4
(a) The clear wing element

(b) The wing element with a control surface
(c) The wing element with an external store
Fig. 3. Three types of wing element section.
shown in Fig. 4. Then, the bend-twist vibration of the wing element in the coordinate
system O-xyz can be described as28

@2 @ 2 hðy; tÞ @ 2 hðy; tÞ @ 2 ðy; tÞ
EIðyÞ þ mðyÞ þ mðyÞx ðyÞ Lh ðy; tÞ ¼ 0; ð1aÞ
@y 2 @y 2 @t 2 @t 2
1850150-5
Fig. 4. The clear wing element.

@ @ðy; tÞ @ 2 ðy; tÞ @ 2 hðy; tÞ
GJðyÞ I ðyÞ mðyÞx ðyÞ þ T ðy; tÞ ¼ 0; ð1bÞ
@y @y @t 2 @t 2
where hðy; tÞ and ðy; tÞ are the wing de°ection in the direction of coordinate z and
the wing angle of torsion in the direction of coordinate y, respectively. Both hðy; tÞ
and ðy; tÞ depend on the coordinate y and time t. EIðyÞ and GJðyÞ are the bend
sti®ness and twist sti®ness of the wing on the position of the coordinate y, respec-
tively. mðyÞ and I ðyÞ are the mass and the mass moment of inertial in the direction
of coordinate y on the position of the coordinate y, respectively. x ðyÞ is the distance
between the elastic axis and the gravity center of the wing section on the position of
the coordinate y. Lh ðy; tÞ and T ðy; tÞ are the lift and torque of aerodynamics on the
position of the coordinate y, respectively.
In the element, it is reasonable to assume that all physical parameters of the wing
vary linearly if the wing has a ¯ne meshing. By introducing the following non-
dimensional parameter
y yj y yj
¼ ¼ ; 2 ð0; 1Þ: ð2Þ
yjþ1 yj lj
Then,
EIðÞ ¼ EIð0Þ þ ðEIð1Þ EIð0ÞÞ: ð3Þ
It is noted that the other physical parameters including the twist sti®ness denoted by
GJ, the mass of unit-length wing denoted by m, the rotary inertial of unit-length
wing denoted by I , the chord denoted by b, the distance between the mass center
and sti®ness axis of the wing denoted by x , the non-dimension parameter denoted
by a and so on in Eq. (3) adopt the similar way.
Further, combining Eqs. (1)–(3), the °utter governing equations of the clear wing
element can be simpli¯ed as
EIðÞ @ 4 h 2ðEIð1Þ EIð0ÞÞ @ 3 h @ 2h @ 2
þ þ mðÞ þ mðÞx ðÞ Lh ð; tÞ ¼ 0; ð4aÞ
l 4j @ 4 l 4j @ 3 @t 2 @t 2
1850150-6
GJðÞ @ 2 GJð1Þ GJð0Þ @ @ 2 @ 2h

þ I ðÞ 2 mðÞx ðÞ 2 þ T ð; tÞ ¼ 0: ð4bÞ
l j @
2 2 2
lj @ @t @t
2.1.3. The wing element with a control surface

In the wing element with a control surface as shown in Fig. 3(b), there is an addi-
tional degree of freedoms led by the control surface and the corresponding bend-twist
vibration equations in the coordinate system O-xyz are described as 28
h i
@ EIðyÞ @@yh2
2
@ 2h @ 2 @ 2
þ mðyÞ S ðyÞ S ðyÞ Lh ðy; tÞ ¼ 0; ð5aÞ
@y 2 @t 2 @t 2 @t 2
h i
@ GJðyÞ @
@y @ 2 @ 2h
I ðyÞ 2 þ S ðyÞ 2
@y @t @t
@ 2
½I ðyÞ þ ðc a
ÞbðyÞS ðyÞ 2 þ T ðy; tÞ ¼ 0; ð5bÞ
@t
@ 2 @ 2h @ 2
k þ I ðyÞ S ðyÞ þ ½ I ðyÞ þ ð
c
a ÞbðyÞS ðyÞ T ðy; tÞ ¼ 0; ð5cÞ
@t 2 @t 2 @t 2
where T ðy; tÞ is denoted as the torsion of the unit-length control surface about
the hinge axis. c is a non-dimension parameter. K , , I ðyÞ and I ðyÞ are, respec-
tively, denoted as the link sti®ness, the de°ected angle of the control surface, the
rotary inertia of the control surface per unit length and the wing per unit length.
S ðyÞ and S ðyÞ are, respectively, denoted as the static moment of the control
surface per unit length and that of the wing per unit length with the following
expression:
S ðyÞ ¼ mðyÞx ðyÞ; ð6aÞ
S ðyÞ ¼ mðyÞx ðyÞ; ð6bÞ

where mðyÞ is the unit-length mass of the wing with a control surface. x ðyÞ is the
distance between the mass center of the unit-length wing with a control surface and
the sti®ness axis of the wing. x ðyÞ is the distance between the mass center of the
unit-length control surface and the hinge axis of the control surface.
In the element, by introducing the assumption that all physical parameters
of the wing change linearly and the same non-dimensional parameter in Eq. (2),
the bend-twist vibration of the wing element with a control surface can be
written as
EIðÞ @ 4 h 2ðEIð1Þ EIð0ÞÞ @ 3 h @ 2h

þ þ mðÞ 2
l i @
4 4 4
lj @ 3 @t
@ 2 @ 2
S ðÞ S ðÞ Lh ð; tÞ ¼ 0; ð7aÞ
@t 2 @t 2
1850150-7
GJðÞ @ 2 GJð1Þ GJð0Þ @ @ 2 @ 2h

þ I ðÞ þ S ðÞ
l 2i @ 2 l 2j @ @t 2 @t 2
@ 2
I ðÞ þ ðc a
ÞbS ðÞ þ T ð; tÞ ¼ 0; ð7bÞ
@t 2
@ 2 @ 2h @ 2
K þ I ðÞ S ðÞ 2 þ ½I ðÞ þ ðc a
ÞbS ðÞ 2 T ð; tÞ ¼ 0: ð7cÞ
@t 2 @t @t
2.1.4. The wing element with an external store

Here, let us consider the wing element with an external store as shown in Fig. 3(c).
The length of the wing element is also assumed to be lj . The external store is
hanged on the wing element at any position of ¼ 0 away from the left of the wing
element. Its mass is denoted as m0 and the rotary inertia is denoted as I0 . The
distance between the external store and the elastic axis is denoted as x0 . ðtÞ and K
represent the angle of the pylon axis and the pitching sti®ness of the pylon, re-
spectively. For simpli¯cation, the pylon yaw sti®ness, lateral sti®ness, vertical
sti®ness is assumed to be very large, so that their e®ects on the aeroelasticity can be
ignored.
For the vibration model of this kind of wing element, Eq. (4) can be used for each
of left hand and right hand of the external store. The governing equations read
EIðÞ @ 4 h1 2ðEIð1Þ EIð0ÞÞ @ 3 h1 @ 2 h1
þ þ mðÞ
4
lj @ 4 4
lj @ 3 @t 2
@ 2 1
þ mðÞx ðÞ Lh1 ð; tÞ ¼ 0; 0 ; ð8aÞ
@t 2
GJðÞ @ 2 1 GJð1Þ GJð0Þ @1 @ 2 1

þ I ðÞ
2
lj @ 2 2
lj @ @t 2
@ 2 h1
mðÞx ðÞ þ T1 ð; tÞ ¼ 0; 0 ; ð8bÞ
@t 2
EIðÞ @ 4 h2 2ðEIð1Þ EIð0ÞÞ @ 3 h2 @ 2 h2

þ þ mðÞ
4
lj @ 4 4
lj @ 3 @t 2
@ 2 2
þ mðÞx ðÞ Lh2 ð; tÞ ¼ 0; > 0 ; ð8cÞ
@t 2
GJðÞ @ 2 2 GJð1Þ GJð0Þ @2 @ 2 2

þ I ðÞ
l 2j @ 2 l 2j @ @t 2
@ 2 h2
mðÞx ðÞ þ T2 ð; tÞ ¼ 0; > 0 ; ð8dÞ
@t 2
1850150-8
where the subscripts 1 and 2 are used to denote the quantities associated with the left
and right of the external store. hi ði ¼ 1; 2Þ represent the transverse displacement at
both sides of the external store, respectively. i ði ¼ 1; 2Þ represent the twist angle at
both sides of the external store, respectively. In addition, the moment M, shear force
Q and twist T in the following equations adopt the similar de¯nition.
Further, the compatibility conditions at the position of the external store must be
satis¯ed, namely
@h1 ð0 ; tÞ @h2 ð0 ; tÞ
h1 ð0 ; tÞ ¼ h2 ð0 ; tÞ; ¼ ; 1 ð0 ; tÞ ¼ 2 ð0 ; tÞ;
@y @y
@h 21 ð0 ; tÞ
M1 ð0 ; tÞ ¼ M2 ð0 ; tÞ; Q1 ð0 ; tÞ þ m0 ¼ Q2 ð0 ; tÞ; ð9Þ
@t 2
@h 21 ð0 ; tÞ
T1 ð0 ; tÞ þ K ððtÞ 1 ð0 ; tÞÞ þ m0 x0 ¼ T2 ð0 ; tÞ;

@t 2
@h 2 ð ;tÞ @h 2 ð ;tÞ
where the expression of m0 x0 @t 1 0
2 , K ððtÞ 1 ð0 ; tÞÞ and m0 @t
1 0
2 represent
the moment produced by the inertial force of the external store, the torsion produced
by the pitching of the external store and the shear force produced by the inertial force
of the external store, respectively.
Besides, for the pitching external store, the vibration equation can be obtained as
@ 2 ðtÞ
ðI0 þ m0 r 20 Þ þ K ððtÞ 1 ð0 ; tÞÞ ¼ 0; ð10Þ
@t 2
where r0 denotes the distance between the mass center of the external store and the
linked position of the pylon.
2.1.5. Boundary conditions on the two ends of the whole wing
For the whole wing, it can be modeled as a cantilever. The corresponding boundary
conditions on its two ends read
@hð0; tÞ
hð0; tÞ ¼ 0; ¼ 0; ð0; tÞ ¼ 0;
@y
@ 2 hðL; tÞ @ 3 hðL; tÞ
MðL; tÞ ¼ EI ¼ 0; QðL; tÞ ¼ EI ¼ 0; ð11Þ
@y 2 @y 3
@ð0; tÞ
T ðL; tÞ ¼ GJ ¼ 0;
@y
where L is length of the whole wing. MðL; tÞ, QðL; tÞ and T ðL; tÞ represent the
bending moment, the shear force and the twist moment at the end of the aircraft
wing, respectively.
Furthermore, initial condition are assumed as
@hðy; 0Þ
hðy; 0Þ ¼ 0; ¼ 0; ðy; 0Þ ¼ 0;
@y
ð12Þ
@hðy; 0Þ @hðy; 0Þ @ðy; 0Þ
¼ 0; ¼ 0; ¼ 0:
@t @y@t @t
1850150-9
2.2. Unsteady aerodynamic model

According to the Theodorson's two-dimensional unsteady aerodynamic model,
formulations of lift and moment acting on the clear wing airfoil are given as 28

@ 2h @ @ 2
Lh ð; tÞ ¼ b 2 ðÞ 2 þ V bðÞ a ðÞ 2
@t @t @t

@h 1 @
þ2VbðÞCðkÞ V þ bðÞ a ðÞ ; ð13aÞ
@t 2 @t
2
@ 2h 1 @ 1 @
T ð; tÞ ¼ b ðÞ bðÞ
2
a ðÞ 2 VbðÞ a ðÞ b ðÞ þ a
2
ðÞ
2
@t 2 @t 8 @t 2

1 @h 1 @
þ2Vb 2 ðÞ þ a ðÞ CðkÞ V þ bðÞ a ðÞ ; ð13bÞ
@t @t
2 2
where V and are the °ow velocity and density of air, respectively. bðÞ is half of the
chord length. CðkÞ is the Theodrosen's function and k is the reduce frequency with
the expression of k ¼ !bV . ! is the angular frequency. a ðÞ is the ratio of the chord and
the distance between elastic axis and midpoint of the chord.
Similarly, for the wing airfoil with a control surface, formulations of lift and
moment are given as2

@ 2h @ @ 2 V @ 2
Lh ð; tÞ ¼ b 2 ðÞ 2 þ V b a 2 T1 2 þ 2VbCðkÞQa ; ð14aÞ
@t @t @t @t

@ 2h 1 @
T ð; tÞ ¼ b 2 ðÞ bðÞ a ðÞ 2 VbðÞ a ðÞ
@t 2 @t
2
1 @ V 2
b 2 ðÞ þa 2 ðÞ ðT1 þ T10 Þ
8 @t 2
VbðÞ @
þ ðT1 þ T8 þ ðc ðÞ a ðÞÞT4 0:5T11 Þ
@t
b 2 ðÞ @ 2
þ ðT7 þ ðc ðÞ a ðÞÞT1 Þ 2
@t
1
þ 2Vb 2 ðÞ þa ðÞ CðkÞQa ; ð14bÞ
2
0 1
bðÞ @ 2 h VbðÞ 1 @
B T1 @t 2 þ 2T9 þ T1 a ðÞ T
2 4 @t C
B C
B C
B C
B 2b 2 ðÞ T @ 2 C
T ð; tÞ ¼ b ðÞB
2
13 C
B @t 2 C
B C
B 2 C
@ V VbðÞ @ bðÞ 2
@ A
2
ðT5 T4 T10 Þ þ T T þ T
2 2 4 11 @t 3
@t 2
Vb 2 ðÞT12 CðkÞQa ; ð14cÞ
1850150-10
where the expression of Qa ; Ti ði ¼ 1; . . . ; 11Þ are given in literature 2 , which are

not herein presented for the sake of brevity. The other symbols are the same to
Eq. (13).
It should be noted that, Eq. (13) can be approximately used for the unsteady
aerodynamic model of the wing element with an external store, since the aero-
dynamic interference between the external store and the wing is not researched
here.
3. Solution Method
Substituting the unsteady aerodynamic model of the clear wing airfoil expressed
by Eq. (13) into the structural model of the clear wing element done by Eq. (4),
one can obtain the °utter governing equations of the clear wing element. Simi-
larly, substituting Eq. (14) into Eq. (7), one can obtain the °utter governing
equations of the wing element with a control surface. For that of the wing element
with an external store, ¯rstly substitute Eq. (13) into Eq. (8), then combine with
Eq. (10).
After obtaining the °utter governing equations, the transfer function method is
employed to investigate the °utter analysis of the aircraft wing. With the aid of the
initial conditions Eq. (12), the °utter governing equations of the three kinds of wing
elements are performed by Fourier transform, which can be uniformity written as
follows:
@ 4 h~ @ 3 h~
¼ A 1n ðÞ þ B1n ð; i!; V Þh~ þ C1n ð; i!; V Þ~
; ð15aÞ
@ 4 @ 3
@ 2
~ @
~
¼ A2n ðÞ þ B2n ð; i!; V Þh~ þ C2n ð; i!; V Þ~
; ð15bÞ
@ 2 @
where h, ~ ~ are the Fourier transform form of h, , respectively. i! is the Fourier
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
transform parameter. ! is the angular frequency and i ¼ 1. The subscripts n ¼ 1,
n ¼ 2, n ¼ 3 are respectively used to denote the quantities associated with the clear
element, the wing element with a control surface and the wing element with an
external store. The expressions of Akn ðÞ; Bkn ð; i!; V Þ; Ckn ð; i!; V Þðk ¼ 1; 2; n ¼
1; 2; 3Þ are listed on the Appendix A.
If denoting a status vector for a wing element as
8" #T
>
> @ h~ @ 2 h~ @ 3 h~ @
~
>
> h~ ðn ¼ 1; 2Þ;
>
< ~
@ @ 2 @ 3 @
é ð; !Þ ¼ " #T
>
> ~ 2~ 3~ 0
@ h~ 2 @ 2 h~ 2
0
@ 3 h~ 2
0 0
> ~ @h1 @ h1 @ h1 @~1 @
~2
0 0
>
> ~1 h~ 2
~2 ðn ¼ 3Þ;
: h 1 @ @ 2 @ 3 @ @ @ 2 @ 3 @
ð16Þ
1850150-11
where the superscript T denotes matrix transpose. It can be seen that the number of
quantities for the wing element with an external store are twice than that of the clear
wing element.
Based on the status vector denoted in Eq. (16), Eq. (15) can be rewritten in a
compact form in state space
@é ð; !Þ
¼ Fe ð; !; V Þé ð; !Þ þ ge ð; !Þ; ð17Þ
@
where
8
> F ð; !; V Þ ðn ¼ 1; 2Þ;
< en
Fe ð; !; V Þ ¼ Fen ð; !; V Þ 0
ðn ¼ 3Þ; ge ð; !Þ ¼ 0; ð18Þ
>
: 0 Fen ð; !; V Þ
with
2 3
0 1 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 1 0 0 0 7
6 7
6 0 7
6 0 0 0 1 0 7
Fen ð; !; V Þ ¼ 6 7: ð19Þ
6 B1n ð; !; V Þ 0 0 A1n ðÞ C1n ð; !; V Þ 0 7
6 7
4 0 0 0 0 0 1 5
B2n ð; !; V Þ 0 0 0 C2n ð; !; V Þ A2n ðÞ
After introducing vector é and performing the Fourier transform to the

boundary conditions in each wing element, with the vanishing initial condition,
we get
Mbe é ð ¼ 0; !Þ þ Nbe é ð ¼ 1; !Þ þ R0e é ð ¼ 0 ; !Þ ¼ ° e ð!Þ; ð20Þ
where Mbe and Nbe are selection matrix of boundary condition on the end of each
element, respectively. R0e is selection matrix of connection condition on the
location of the external store. ° e ð!Þ is a vector determined by the displacement
on two ends of each element. Expressions of Mbe , Nbe , R0e and ° e ð!Þ are
written as
be ;
Mbe ¼ M be ;
Nbe ¼ N R0e ¼ 0; e ð!Þ;
° e ð!Þ ¼ ° ðn ¼ 1; 2Þ; ð21aÞ

be 0
M 0 N be 0
Mbe ¼ ; Nbe ¼ ; R0e ¼ ;
0 0 0 0 0e
R
ð21bÞ
e ð!Þ
°
° e ð!Þ ¼ ; ðn ¼ 3Þ;
0
1850150-12
with
8 ~ !Þ 9
>
> hð0; >
>
2 3 2 3 >
> >
>
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 >
> ~ ð0; !Þ >
>
>
> >
>
6 7 6 7 >
> >
60
6
0 0 0 1 07
7
60
6
0 0 0 0 07
7
>
>
> ~ !Þ >
@ hð0; >
>
>
> >
60 1 0 0 0 07 60 0 0 0 0 07 < =
be 6 7 be 6 7 @
M ¼6 7; N ¼6 7; e ð!Þ ¼
° ;
60 0 0 0 0 07 61 0 0 0 0 07 >
> ~ !Þ > >
6 7 6 7 >
> hð1; >
>
60 > >
4 0 0 0 0 075
60
4 0 0 0 1 075 >
>
>
>
~ ð1; !Þ >
>
>
> >
>
>
> >
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 >
>
: @ hð1; !Þ >
~ >
>
;
@
2 3
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
6 7
6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7
0
6 7
6 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7
6 7
6 7
6 m0 ! 2 7
0 ¼6
R 6 EI 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 77:
6 7
6 7
6 7
6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7
6 7
6 7
4 m 0 x0 ! 2 ðJ0 þ m0 r 20 Þ! 2 K 5
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
GJ GJ K ðJ0 þ m0 r 20 Þ! 2
ð22Þ
According to the transfer function method, the solution of Eq. (17) can be
expressed as follows31:
é ð; !Þ ¼ He ð; !; V Þ° e ð!Þ þ f e ð; !Þ; ð23Þ
where
He ð; !; V Þ ¼ ©Fe ð; 0; !; V Þ½Mbe ©Fe ð0; 0; !; V Þ þ Nbe ©Fe ð1; 0; !; V Þ 1 ; ð24aÞ
Fe ð; ; !; V Þ ¼ e Fe ð;!;V Þ ; ð24bÞ

Z 1
f e ð; !Þ ¼ Ge ð; ; !; V Þge ð; !Þd; ð24cÞ
0

He ð; !; V ÞMbe Fe ð0; ; !; V Þ; ;
Ge ð; ; !; V Þ ¼ ð24dÞ
He ð; !; V ÞNbe Fe ð1; ; !; V Þ; > ;
where f e ð; !Þ vanishes for the present study because of ge ð; !Þ ¼ 0. The matrix
©Fe ð; ; !; V Þ is approximately evaluated by using Gauss quadrature.
Further, like the FEM, the contribution of each element will be assembled to-
gether to obtain a global equilibrium equation for the whole wing through the
1850150-13
internal force on both ends of each element. In each wing element, the internal force
denoted by ¾e ð; !Þ can be written as
8 9
>
> EIðÞ @ 2 h~ >
>
>
> >
>
8 9 >
> l 2j @ 2 >
>
> >
<Mð; !Þ = > >
< =
EIðÞ @ 3 h~ EIð1Þ EIð0Þ @ 2 h~
¾e ð; !Þ ¼ F ð; !Þ ¼ þ : ð25Þ
: ; >
> l 3j @ 3 l 3j @ 2 > >
Qð; !Þ >
> >
>
>
> GJðÞ @ >
>
>
>
~ >
>
: ;
lj @
Introducing the status vector é ð; !Þ, we get

¾e ð; !Þ ¼ Ee ðÞé ð; !Þ; ð26Þ
2 3
EIðÞ
60 0 l 2j
0 0 7 0
6 7
6 EIð1Þ EIð0Þ 7
6 EIðÞ 7
where the matrix Ee ðÞ ¼ 6 0 0 0 0 7.
6 l 3j l 3j 7
6 7
4 GJðÞ 5
0 0 0 0 0
lj
Furthermore, substituting Eq. (23) into Eq. (26) with f e ð; !Þ ¼ 0, we get
¾e ð; !Þ ¼ Ee ðÞHe ð; !; V Þ° e ð!Þ: ð27Þ
If let ¼ 0 and ¼ 1, respectively, we will get the internal force on both ends of each
element. That is

¾e ð0; !Þ Ee ð0ÞHe ð0; !; V Þ
¾e ð!Þ ¼ ¼ ° ð!Þ: ð28Þ
¾e ð1; !Þ Ee ð1ÞHe ð1; !; V Þ e
As we known before, the vector ° e ð!Þ is determined by the displacement on both

ends of each element. So, ° e ð!Þ can be seen as the generalized node displacement
array of each element. Further, Eq. (28) can be seen as the equilibrium equation of

Ee ð0ÞHe ð0; !; V Þ
each element and the matrix can be seen as the generalized
sti®ness matrix. For convenient, it is denoted by Ke ð!; V Þ with

Ke ð!; V Þ ¼ : ð29Þ
1850150-14
Further, the global equilibrium equation can be written as
Kð!; V Þ°ð!Þ ¼ Fð!Þ; ð30Þ
where Fð!Þ is the generalized global node load vector.

Since there is no external force acting on element nodes of the wing except
the pneumatic force, which has been considered into the governing equation. So,
we get
Fð!Þ ¼ 0: ð31Þ
For °utter analysis, the existence of a nontrivial solution of Eq. (30) allows us to get
that the determinant of the coe±cient matrix must vanish. That is
det½Kð!; V Þ ¼ 0: ð32Þ
Since Kð!; V Þ is a complex matrix, vanishing of its determinant allows us to get
Refdet½Kð!; V Þg ¼ 0; ð33aÞ
Imfdet½Kð!; V Þg ¼ 0: ð33bÞ

The unknown °utter frequency ! and °utter velocity V of the wing can be obtained
by the above two equations. In order to ¯nd the solution fast, the contours of
Refdet½Kð!; V Þg and Imfdet½Kð!; V Þg are plotted together in a single ¯gure with
the lateral axis ! and vertical axis V . In the ¯gure, the intersection points of
the curve Refdet½Kð!; V Þg ¼ 0 and the curve Imfdet½Kð!; V Þg ¼ 0 are the °utter
solution of the wing. Maybe, there is more than one solution satisfying with
Eq. (33). The one with the minimal V is what we want to look for. The entire
procedure for plotting the contour of Refdet½Kð!; V Þg and Imfdet½Kð!; V Þg is
outlined in Fig. 5.
It should be noted that, if we let V ! 0 in the above Eq. (32), the complex matrix
Kð!; V Þ will be degenerated to be a real one Kð!Þ and the natural frequencies of the
wing can be theoretically obtained by
det½Kð!Þ ¼ 0: ð34Þ
If we let ! ! 0 in the above Eq. (32), the complex matrix Kð!; V Þ will be also
degenerated to be a real one KðV Þ and the torsional divergence velocity of the wing
can be theoretically obtained by
det½KðV Þ ¼ 0: ð35Þ
However, if we let V ! 0 or ! ¼ 0 in Eq. (33), the solving process will be stopped by
numerical singularity. So, in practice, we usually let V or ! be a small number such as
0.001 or much smaller to avoid the occurrence of numerical singularity in the solving
process.
1850150-15
Fig. 5. Flowchart of the proposed method for wing °utter problems.
4. Numerical Investigation
In order to validate the e®ectiveness and accuracy of the current method for aero-
elastic analysis, several examples are studied. Numerical results are compared to
available reference solutions.
4.1. Example 1: An uniform high-aspect-ratio wing

Firstly, an uniform high-aspect-ratio wing is investigated. The basic parameters of
the wing are listed in Table 1. For the convenience of description, the matrix Kð!; V Þ
!
is replaced by A below and the °utter frequency is done by fðf ¼ 2 Þ. According to
the °owchart of the proposed method for wing °utter analysis in Fig. 5, the possible
1850150-16
Table 1. The parameters of the aircraft wing.
Basic parameters Value

Half of span (m) 0.432
Half of chord (m) 0.025
Mass of unit length (kg/m) 0.2
Position of the elastic axis (%chord) 50

Rotary inertia of unit length (kg m 2 Þ 4.83810 5
Sti®ness of bend (N m 2 Þ 2.09610 1
Sti®ness of twist (N m 2 Þ 3.02810 1
Air density (kg/m 3 Þ 1.225
range of the °utter frequency f and °utter velocity V of the wing are estimated as

V 2 ð0; 200 m=sÞ
. The step size of the °utter frequency f and °utter velocity V are
f 2 ð0; 100 HzÞ

V ¼ 5 m=s
preliminarily de¯ned as . Then, the contours of Reðdet AÞ and
f ¼ 5 Hz
Imðdet AÞ are plotted together in Fig. 6. It can be seen clearly that, there are two
intersection points, which are denoted by A and B, respectively. Since the inter-
section point A with the minimal V , the °utter frequency f and °utter velocity V can
be obtained from coordinate values of point A.
Fig. 6. The contour of Reðdet AÞ and Imðdet AÞ.
1850150-17
In order to get more accurate results fast, a much smaller range that denoted by
the red dotted line covering the intersection point A are rede¯ned, as shown in Fig. 6.
That is, the new ranges of the °utter frequency f and °utter velocity V of the wing
0
V 2 ð0; 50Þ V ¼ 1 m=s
are estimated as 0
and the new step size is de¯ned as .
f 2 ð0; 50Þ f ¼ 1 Hz
The contours of Reðdet AÞ and Imðdet AÞ are described in a Fig. 7. It can be seen
that, there is only one intersection point C which is the point A in Fig. 6. The
coordinates of the point C that is (24.1, 35.0) show that the °utter velocity and
°utter frequency of the wing obtained by the present method are 35.3 m/s and
24.1 Hz, respectively. The °utter results of the same wing had been calculated in the
literature,28 where the °utter velocity is 35.3 m/s and the °utter frequency is 24.0 Hz.
Therefore, very good agreement between the literature result and present one shows
that the present method is accurate and e±cient.

Table 2 includes the wing °utter characteristics obtained with di®erent mesh
density. From Table 2, the accuracy of the °utter velocity and °utter frequency is
slightly improved as the mesh is re¯ned in comparison with solutions in literature.28
It is interesting to note that present numerical results are all agree well with reference
solutions whether the mesh is re¯ned or not. So we can conclude that the present
method is not sensitive to mesh re¯nement. The reason is that the structural model of
the wing element is established by directly using the bend-twist vibration equation to
depict the displacement vibration, which will be more accurate than the common
¯nite element method with the polynomial interpolation in the element.
1850150-18
Table 2. The in°uences of mesh re¯nement on wing °utter

obtained from the present method.
Meshing Flutter velocity (m/s) Flutter frequency (Hz)

1 element 35.1 24.2
3 elements 35.1 24.2

Secondly, in order to demonstrate the prominent advantage of the present

method that the torsion divergence of the wing can be easily obtained through
degeneration of the °utter characteristic equations, the torsion divergence problem
of the same wing is investigated. The basic parameters of the wing listed in Table 1
are still used in this example. Here, the lift curve slope of the airfoil is a0 ¼ 5:5.
The analytic solution of the torsional divergence velocity for the wing is28
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2GJ
VD ¼ ; ð36Þ
2l be @C @
L
where l, b and GJ is the half of span, half of chord and twist sti®ness, respectively. is
the air density. e is the distance between the elastic axis and the aerodynamic center
on the chordwise of the wing. From Table 1, we know that the position of the elastic
axis is on the 50% of the chord. Generally, the position of the aerodynamic center
is on the 25% of the chord. So the parameter e takes a value of 25%. @C @ is the lift
L
curve slope of the wing, which can be evaluated through the lift curve slope of the
airfoil as
@CL
¼ a0 ; ð37Þ
@ þ2
where is the aspect ratio of the wing.
Here, we let ! ¼ 0:001. According to the °owchart of the proposed method for
wing problems in Fig. 5, the possible range of the torsional divergence velocity V of
the wing are estimated as V 2 ð0; 100 m=sÞ. The variation of Reðdet AÞ along with
the velocity V is plotted in Fig. 8. It can be seen that, there is one intersection
point D within the range of V 2 ð0; 100 m=sÞ. The horizontal ordinate of point D is
approximately 46.02 m/s, which is the torsional divergence velocity of the wing. The
analytic result of the wing is 46.06 m/s, which can be calculated by Eq. (36). It is
viewed that the numerical results of the present method are considered to be ex-
tremely good with the analytic solutions.
To further examine the validity and accuracy of the method suggested here, the
torsional divergence of the uniform straight wing with di®erent physical parameters
is studied. It is can be found from Eq. (36) that the physical parameters such as the
aspect ratio , twist sti®ness GJ and the distance between the elastic axis and the
aerodynamic center e mainly a®ect the torsional divergence of the aircraft wing.
1850150-19
Fig. 8. Variation of Reðdet AÞ with velocity V ð! ¼ 0:001Þ.
Table 3. Torsional divergence velocity of the wing with di®erent physical

parameters (Unit: m/s).
Cases Present solutions Analytic solutions
Case1 80% , 100%GJ, 100%e 58.26 58.32

Case2 100% , 100%GJ, 100%e 46.02 46.06
Case3 120% , 100%GJ, 100%e 38.02 38.05
Case4 150% , 100%GJ, 100%e 30.15 30.17
Case5 100% , 80%GJ, 100%e 41.25 41.20
Case6 100% , 120%GJ, 100%e 50.41 50.46
Case7 100% , 120%GJ, 80%e 51.43 51.50
Case8 100% , 120%GJ, 120%e 42.01 42.05
So, Table 3 gives the torsional divergence velocity of the wing with di®erent physical
parameters obtained by the present method and analytic one, respectively. Clearly,
the results of the two methods agree extremely with each other.
From this section, as can be concluded that, the torsion divergence of the wing can
be easily evaluated through degeneration of the °utter characteristic equations,
which unites the solution procedure for the static and dynamic stability of the air-
craft wing. It is one of the prominent advantages of the present method.
4.2. Example 2: A general high-aspect-ratio wing

Actually, physical and geometrical parameters of the aircraft wing commonly change
along the wingspan direction in engineering. As the second example, we consider
1850150-20
Table 4. The main parameters on the stations of the aircraft wing.
Bend sti®ness Twist sti®ness Mass per unit Rotary inertia per
y=l Chord (m) (N/m 2 Þ (N/m 2 Þ length (kg) unit length (kg m 2 Þ
0 3.15 4:08 10 6 1:60 10 6 79.0 74.0
0.1 2.94 3:00 10 6 1:30 10 6 37.5 32.6
0.2 2.74 1:87 10 6 1:04 10 6 32.5 26.0

0.3 2.53 1:24 10 6 7:60 10 5 28.0 19.7
0.4 2.32 8:20 10 5 5:20 10 5 23.5 13.7
0.5 2.11 5:30 10 5 3:70 10 5 19.5 9.25
0.6 1.91 3:20 10 5 2:80 10 5 15.5 5.83
0.7 1.70 1:70 10 5 2:00 10 5 12.5 3.51
0.8 1.49 9:00 10 4 1:40 10 5 10.5 2.28
0.9 1.29 5:00 10 4 8:00 10 4 8.50 1.51
1.0 1.08 4:00 10 4 5:00 10 4 6.20 0.99
Table 5. Mode characteristics of the aircraft wing.
No. Frequency (Hz) Mode

mode1 6.281 Hz 1st bending
mode2 12.68 Hz 1st torsion
mode3 20.51 Hz 2st bending
mode4 24.29 Hz 2st torsion
such a general high-aspect-ratio wing. The half span of the wing is 5.8 m and the lift
curve slope is 4.32. The main physical and geometrical parameters of the wing are
listed in Table 4. Besides, both of the elastic axis and the mass center are on the
position of 50% chord. The air density is 1.225 kg/m3.
For comparison, the °utter result of the wing is also calculated by V –g method
based on modal characteristics, which are listed in Table 5 containing the ¯rst four
modes. Figures 9 and 10 give the °utter velocity and the °utter frequency of the
wing, respectively. In Fig. 9, the variation of the structural damp along with the air
velocity is plotted. The plot clearly demonstrates that the twist branch intersects
with the curve g ¼ 0 at the point A. In order to get more accurate results, a much
smaller range that denoted by the red dotted line covering the intersection point A is
enlarged, as shown in Fig. 9. The horizontal coordinate of the point A shows that the
wing °utter velocity obtained by V –g method is 138.6 m/s. In Fig. 10, the variation
of the frequency along with the air velocity is plotted. In order to get more accurate
°utter frequency, a much smaller range that denoted by the red dotted line covering
the °utter point B is enlarged, as shown in Fig. 10. It can be seen clearly that the
wing °utter frequency is approximately 10.48 Hz.
The contours of Reðdet AÞ and Imðdet AÞ which are obtained by the present
method are plotted together in Fig. 11. It can be seen that the point C is the
intersection of the two curves Reðdet AÞ ¼ 0 and Imðdet AÞ ¼ 0. The coordinates
of the point C that is (13.0, 136.9) show that the °utter velocity and °utter freq-
uency obtained by the present method are 136.9 m/s and 13.0 Hz, respectively.
1850150-21
1850150-22
Fig. 10. Variation of the frequency along with the air velocity (V –f).
Fig. 9. Variation of the structural damp along with the air velocity (V –g).
Compared with the results obtained by V –g method, the good agreement shows that
the present method is accurate and e±cient.
In order to obtain the torsional divergence of the wing, we let ! ¼ 0:001 in the
°owchart of the proposed method in Fig. 5. Then, the variation of Reðdet AÞ along
with the velocity V is plotted in Fig. 12. From the ¯gure, we can see that the
torsional divergence velocity of the wing is approximately 269 m/s.
4.3. Example 3: A high-aspect-ratio wing with a control surface

Here, the °utter stability of a high-aspect-ratio wing with a control surface is
investigated. The parameters of the wing section without the control surface are
referred in Table 1 and those with the control surface are listed in Table 6. Both the
present method and the classic V –g method are adopted to compare with each other.
The ¯nite element model of the wing with a control surface is established based on
beam elements as shown in Fig. 13. The V –g and V –f curve are, respectively, plotted
in Fig. 14. It can be seen that, the wing °utter velocity obtained by V –g curve is
33.5 m/s and the wing °utter frequency is approximately 29.1 Hz. The contours of Re
(det A) and Im(det A) which are obtained by the present method are described
in Fig. 15. It can be seen that the coordinates of the intersection point A are
(23.6, 33.6). It shows that the °utter velocity and °utter frequency obtained by
the present method are 33.6 m/s and 23.6 Hz, respectively. Compared with the
1850150-23
Fig. 12. Variation of Reðdet AÞ with velocity V ð! ¼ 0:001Þ.
Table 6. Parameters of the wing with control surface.
Parameters Values
Mass of unit length for the control surface mc ¼ 0:52 m
Length of the control surface Lc ¼ 0:20 L
Chord of the control surface bc ¼ 0:50 b
Position of the gravity center of the control surface yc ¼ 0:70 L
Position of the hinge of the control surface c ¼ 0:5
Distance from the mass center to the hinge for the control surface x ¼ 0:125 b
Rotary inertia of unit length of the control surface I ¼ 0:01 I
Link sti®ness of unit length for the control surface hinge K ¼ 0:066 GJ
results obtained by V –g method, the good agreement shows that the present is
accurate and e±cient.
Next, a general high-aspect-ratio wing with physical and geometrical parameters
changing along the wingspan direction is investigated. The main parameters on the
stations of the wing are listed in Table 7. The contours of Re(det A) and Im(det A),
which are obtained by the present method are plotted together in Fig. 16. It can be
seen that, from the coordinates of the intersection point A, the °utter velocity and
°utter frequency obtained by the present method are 129.1 m/s and 12.6 Hz, re-
spectively.
1850150-24
Fig. 13. The FEM model of the wing with an control surface.
(a) V –g curve
(b) V –f curve
Fig. 14. Flutter characteristics of the wing.
1850150-25
Table 7. Parameters on the stations of a general wing.
y=l 2b EI 10 6 GJ 10 6 m I
0 3.15 4.08 1.60 79.0 74.0

0.1 2.94 3.00 1.30 37.5 32.6
0.2 2.74 1.87 1.04 32.5 26.0
0.3 2.53 1.24 0.76 28.0 19.7
0.4 2.32 0.82 0.52 23.5 13.7
0.5 2.11 0.53 0.37 19.5 9.25
0.6 1.91 0.32 0.28 15.5 5.83
0.7 1.70 0.17 0.20 12.5 3.51
0.8 1.49 0.09 0.14 10.5 2.28
0.9 1.29 0.05 0.08 8.50 1.51
1.0 1.08 0.04 0.05 6.20 0.99
4.4. Example 4: A high-aspect-ratio wing with an external store

Finally, the °utter stability of a high-aspect-ratio wing with an external store is
investigated. The parameters of the external store are listed in Table 8. For easy
veri¯cation, the distance from the mass center to the elastic axis is x ¼ 0 and other
parameters are referred in Table 1. Both the present method and the FEM are
adopted to compare with each other. The ¯nite element model for the wing with an
external store is shown in Fig. 17, which include 40 shell elements for the wing and
a central mass element for the external store. The results listed in Table 4 show
that the °utter velocity and °utter frequency obtained by the present method agree
very well with the ¯nite element method, whenever the wing is with an external store
or not.
1850150-26
Table 8. Parameters of the external store.
Parameters Values
Mass m0 ¼ 0:1 kg
Rotary inertia I0 ¼ 4:0 10 6 kg m 2
Chordwise distance from the elastic axis to the external store x0 ¼ 0
Vertical distance from the wing to the external store z0 ¼ 0
Distance from the wing root to the external store y0 ¼ 0:5 L
Pitching link sti®ness K ¼ 1
Fig. 17. The FEM model of the wing with an external store.
Table 9. Flutter characteristics of aircraft wings with and without

an external store.
Flutter velocity (m/s) Flutter frequence (Hz)
External store FEM Present FEM Present

No 38.0 37.5 27.2 24.7
Yes 42.0 40.3 22.3 20.3
1850150-27
5. Conclusion
This paper was to provide a new method for aeroelastic stability analysis of the high-
aspect-ratio wing by using the transfer function method. Numerical examples illus-
trate that the present method is accurate and e±cient, especially for the insensitivity
to the mesh re¯nement and no demanding the structural modal analysis. What is
more, the torsion divergence of the high-aspect-ratio aircraft wing can be easily
derived by degenerating the wing °utter governing equations. Besides, the present
method can also deal with the high-aspect-ratio aircraft wing with geometrical and
physical parameters more complex changing along the wingspan direction and that
with control surfaces and external stores. Currently, the present work is con¯ned to
the case that aircraft wings own a high aspect ratio. However, the transfer function
method can also be applied to aeroelastic stability analysis of low-aspect-ratio aircraft
wings by using the plate model for structural vibration and vortex lattice method for
the aerodynamic model. The issue is now under study, and the results will appear soon.
Appendix A
When n ¼ 1, the expressions of the Akn ðÞ; Bkn ð; i!; V Þ; Ckn ð; i!; V Þðk ¼ 1; 2Þ are
listed as
2ðEIð1Þ EIð0ÞÞ
A11 ¼ ;
EIðÞ
l 4j ½b 2 ði!Þ 2 2VbCð!; V Þði!Þ mðÞði!Þ 2
B11 ¼ ;
EIðÞ

l 4j b 2 ðV ði!Þ b
a ði!Þ 2 Þ þ 2VbCð!; V Þ V þ b 12 a
ði!Þ
mðÞx ðÞði!Þ 2
C11 ¼ ;
EIðÞ
GJð1Þ GJð0Þ
A21 ¼ ;
GJðÞ

l 2j I ðÞði!Þ 2 b 2 Vb 12 a 2 ði!Þ 2
ði!Þ b 2 18 þ a

þ 2Vb 2 12 þ a Cð!; V Þ V þ b 12 a
ði!Þ
B21 ¼ ;
GJðÞ

l 2j mðÞx ðÞði!Þ 2 þ b 3 a
ði!Þ 2 þ 2Vb 2 12 þ a
Cð!; V Þði!Þ
C21 ¼ :
GJðÞ
listed as:
A12 ¼ ;
EIðÞ
1850150-28

l 4j
S ðÞði!Þ 2 þ D13 S ðÞði!Þ 2 þ D31
B12 ¼ D11 mðÞði!Þ 2 þ ;
EIðÞ K ðÞ þ I ðÞði!Þ 2 D33
2
3
S ðÞði!Þ 2 þ D13

l 4j 66
D32 I ðÞ þ ðc a ÞbðÞS ðÞ ði!Þ 2 77
C12 ¼ 6 S ðÞði!Þ þ D12 þ
2
7;
EIðÞ 4 K ðÞ þ I ðÞði!Þ 2 D33 5
GJð1Þ GJð0Þ
A22 ¼ ;
GJðÞ
2 3
f½I ðÞ þ ðc a
ÞbðÞS ðÞði!Þ 2 D23 g
l 2j 6
6
ðS ðÞði!Þ 2 þ D31 Þ 7
7
¼ 6 S ðÞði!Þ 2 þ D21 þ 7;
B22
GJðÞ 4 K ðÞ þ I ðÞði!Þ 2 D33 5
2 3
½I ðÞ þ ðc a
ÞbðÞS ðÞði!Þ 2 D23

l 2j 6
6 D32 ½I ðÞ þ ðc a ÞbðÞS ðÞði!Þ 2 77
C22 ¼ 6ðI ðÞði!Þ D22 Þ þ
2
7;
GJðÞ 4 K ðÞ þ I ðÞði!Þ 2 D33 5
with
D11 ¼ b 2 ði!Þ 2 þ 2VbCð!; V Þði!Þ;
D12 ¼ b 2 ½ði!ÞV ba ði!Þ 2 þ 2VbCð!; V Þ½V þ bð0:5 a Þði!Þ;

V V b
D13 ¼ T1 b 2 ði!Þ þ 2VbCð!; V Þ T10 þ ði!Þ ;
2

2 1
D21 ¼
a b ði!Þ þ 2Vb
3 2
þa Cð!; V Þði!Þ;
2

1 2 1
D22 ¼ b Vb
2
a ði!Þ b þa ði!Þ
2 2
2 8

2 1
þ2Vb þa Cð!; V Þ½V þ bð0:5 a Þði!Þ;
2
V2 Vb
D23 ¼ ðT1 þ T10 Þb 2 þ ðT1 þ T8 þ ðc a ÞT4 0:5T11 Þði!Þ

b2 2 1 V b
þ ðT7 þ ðc a
ÞT1 Þði!Þ þ 2Vb
2
þa
Cð!; V Þ T þ ði!Þ ;
2 10 2
b
D31 ¼ T1 b 2 ði!Þ 2 Vb 2 T12 Cð!; V Þði!Þ;

1850150-29

Vb 1 2b 2
D32 ¼ b 2 2T9 þ T1 a T4 ði!Þ T13 ði!Þ 2
2
Vb 2 T12 Cð!; V Þ½V þ bð0:5 a
Þði!Þ;
2 2
V Vb b
D33 ¼ b
2
ðT5 T4 T10 Þ þ 2 T4 T11 ði!Þ þ T3 ði!Þ 2
2

V b
Vb T12 Cð!; V Þ
2
T þ ði!Þ :
10 2
listed as:
A13 ¼ ;
EIðÞ

! 2 ðm b 2 Þ þ 2b V! Cð!; V Þi
B13 ¼ ;
EI

! 2 b 2 ðb
a þ mx Þ þ ðb 2 V! þ 2b 2 V! Cð!; V Þð0:5 a
ÞÞi

þ 2b V! 2 Cð!; V Þ
2
C13 ¼ ;
EI
GJð1Þ GJð0Þ
A23 ¼ ;
GJðÞ

! 2 ðmx b 3 a Þ þ 2 V! b 2 ð0:5 þ a ÞCð!; V Þi
B23 ¼ ;
GJ

! 2 ðI þ b 4 ð0:125 þ a 2 ÞÞ þ 2 V! b 3 ð0:5 a
2 ÞCð!; V Þ

b 3 ! ð0:5 a Þ i þ 2b 2 ! 2 ð0:5 þ a ÞCð!; V Þ
V V 2
C23 ¼ :
GJ
Acknowledgments
The support of the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11702325) and
the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province of China (Grant No.
A2018210065) is highly appreciated. Besides, I would like to express my gratitude to
Dr. Wang Weijie for helping us to polish this paper.
References
1. W. Wang, X. Zhu, Z. Zhou and J. Duan, A method for nonlinear aeroelasticity trim and
stability analysis of very °exible aircraft based on co-rotational theory, J. Fluids Struct.
62 (2016) 209–229.
2. T. Theodorsen, General theory of aerodynamic instability and the mechanism of °utter,
NACA Report No. 496(1935).
1850150-30
3. C. E. Watkins, H. L. Runyan and D. S Woolston, On the kernel function of the integral

equation relating the lift and downwash distributions of oscillating ¯nite wings in sub-
sonic °ow, NACA Report, No. 1234 (1955).
4. E. Albano and W. P. Rodden, A doublet-lattice method for calculating lift distributions
on oscillating surfaces in subsonic °ows, AIAA J. 7(2) (1969) 279–285.
5. W. P. Rodden, J. P. Giesing and T. P. Kalman, Re¯nement of the nonplanar aspects of
the subsonic doublet-lattice lifting surface method, J. Aircr. 9(1) (1972) 69–73.
6. W. P. Rodden, P. F. Taylor and S. C. McIntosh, Further re¯nement of the subsonic
doublet-lattice method, J. Aircr. 35(5) (1998) 720–727.
7. D. Guan, Caculation of Unsteady Aerodynamics (Beihang University Press, Beijing,
1991).
8. G. B. Chen, C. Q. Zhou and C. Yang, Basis of Aeroelastic Design (Beihang University
Press, Beijing, 2004).
9. E. M. Lee Rauseh and J. T. Batina, Wing °utter computations using an aeroelastic model
based on the Navier–Stokes equations, J. Aircr. 33(6) (1996) 710–715.

10. F. Liu et al., Calculation of wing °utter by a coupled °uid–structure method, J. Aircr.
38(2) (2001) 334–342.
11. R. E. Gordiner and R. B. Melville, Transonic °utter simulation using an implicit
aeroelastic solver, J. Aircr. 37(5) (2000) 872–879.
12. M. J. Patil, D. H. Hodges and C. E. S. Cesnik, Nonlinear aeroelastic and °ight dynamics
of hight-altitude long-edurance aircraft, J. Aircr. 38(1) (2001) 88–94.
13. M. J. Smith, M. J. Patil and D. H. Hodges, CFD-based analysis of nonlinear aeroelastic
behavior of high-aspectratio wings, 42nd AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Struct., Struct.
Dyn. Mater. Conf. (2001), AIAA 2001-1582.
14. J. A. Garcia, Numerical investigation of nonlinear aeroelastic e®ects on °exible high-aspect
ratio wings, J. Aircr. 42(4) (2005) 1025–1036.
15. R. Palacios and C. E. S. Cesnik, Static nonlinear aeroelasticity of °exible slender wings in
compressible °ow, 46th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Struct., Struct. Dyn. Mater.
Conf. (2005), AIAA 2005-1945.
16. P. S. Beran, J. Y. Hur and R. D. Snder, Static nonlinear aeroelastic analysis of a blended
wing body, 46th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Struct., Struct. Dyn. Mater. Conf.
(2005), AIAA 2005-1944.
17. D. M. Tang and E. H. Dowell, E®ects of geometric structural nonlinearity on °utter and
limit cycle oscillations of high-aspect-ratio wings, J. Fluids Struct. 19(3) (2004) 291–306.
18. Z. Wang, P. C. Chen, D. D. Liu and D. T. Mook, Nonlinear aeroelastic analysis for a
HALE wing including e®ects of gust and °ow separation, 48th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/
AHS/ASC Struct., Struct. Dyn. Mater. Conf. (2007), AIAA 2007-2106.
19. K. S. Kim et al., E±cient numerical aeroelastic analysis of a high-aspect ratio wing
considering geometric nonlinearity, J. Aircr. 47(1) (2010) 338–342.
20. W. Wang et al., Static aeroelastic analysis of a very °exible solar powered UAV with
Geometrical nonlinear e®ect considered, J. Northwestern Polytechnical Univ. 32(4)
(2014) 499–505.
21. W. Wang et al., Exploring aeroelastic stability of very °exible solar powered UAV with
Geometrically large deformation, J. Northwestern Polytechnical Univ. 33(1) (2015) 1–7.
22. Z. C. Yang, H. Zhang, Y. S. Gu and M. Song, Aeroelastic analysis of the high aspect ratio
wing considering the geometric nonlinearity, J. Vib. Shock 33(6) (2014) 72–76.
23. C. H. Xie, Z. G. Wu and C. Yang, Aeroelastic analysis of °exible large aspect ratio wing,
J. B. Univ. Aeronaut. Astronaut. 29(12) (2003) 1087–1091.
24. C. C. Xie, J. Z. Leng and C. Yang, Geometrical nonlinear aeroelastic stability analysis of a
composite high-aspect-ratio wing, Shock Vib. 5(3) (2008) 325–333.
1850150-31
25. J. Zhang and J. W. Xiang, Stability of high-aspect-ratio °exible wings loaded by a lateral
follower force, Acta Aeronaut. Et Astronaut. Sinica 31(11) (2010) 2115–2124.
26. C. H. Xie, R. Hu, F. Wang and Y. Liu, Aeroelastic wind tunnel test model design and
experiment on very °exible high-aspect-ratio wings, Eng. Mech. 33(11) (2016) 249–256.
27. Y. Niu, Z. Wang and W. Zhang, Nonlinear thermal °utter analysis of supersonic com-
posite laminated panels using di®erential quadrature method, Int. J. Str. Stab. Dyn.
17(7) (2014) 1450030.

28. Y. Zhao, Aeroelastic Mechanics and Control (Science Press, Beijing, 2006).
29. B. Yang, Transfer function of constrained/combined one dimensional contimious
dynamic systems, ASME J. Sound Vib. 156(3) (1992) 425–443.
30. J. P. Zhou and B. Yang, A distributed transfer function method for analysis of cylindrical
shells, AIAA J. 33(9) (1995) 1698–1708.
31. J. P. Zhou and Y. Lei, Transfer Function Method of Distributed Parameter System
(Science Press, Beijing, 2010).
32. Y. Lei, H. Li and J. P. Zhou, Distributed transfer function method for stability of com-
posite conical shells, J. Nat. Univ. Def. Tech. 21(6) (1999) 1–4.
33. Y. Feng, H. Li, X. Li and J. P. Zhou, Strip distributed tranfer function analysis of di®used
channel wave guides, Acta Opt. Sin. 28(7) (1999) 622–626.
34. E. Li, G. Tang, Y. Lei and D. Li, Dynamics analysis of constrained layer damping plate by
transfer function method, J. Nat. Univ. Def. Tech. 30(1) (2008) 5–10.
35. R. Mohammad, A. A. Sani and S. M. Hozhabrossadati, Application of di®erential
transform method to free vibration of gabled frames with rotational springs, Int. J. Str.
Stab. Dyn. 17(1) (2017) 1750012.
36. C. Chung, Analysis of vibration in L- and H-shaped planar frame structures using transfer
function, Int. J. Struct. Stab. Dyn. 17(6) (2017) 1750067.
37. Y. Lei, X. Zhao and J. P. Zhou, Transfer function method for ¯nding national frequencies
of a nonlocal elastic bar, J. Vib. Shock 25(6) (2006) 177–182.
38. Z. Shen, X. Li, L. Sheng and G. Tang, Transverse vibration of nanoyube-based micro-mass
sensor via nonlocal Timoshenko beam theory, Comput. Mater. Sci. 53 (2012) 340–346.
1850150-32

Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of Aircraft Wings With High Aspect Ratios by Transfer Function Method

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of Aircraft Wings With High Aspect Ratios by Transfer Function Method

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics

Vol. 18, No. 12 (2018) 1850150 (32 pages)

Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of Aircraft Wings with High

Jing Bo Duan*,‡ and Zhong Yuan Zhang†

Shijiazhuang 050043, P. R. China

Received 2 November 2017

Fig. 1. The high-aspect-ratio wing of the UAV.

aerodynamic characteristics, which brings an unneglectable aeroelastic problem and

aeroelastic analysis of high-aspect-ratio aircraft wings.

2.1.2. The clear wing element

(a) Front view of the wing

(b) Vertical view of the wing

Fig. 2. A general high-aspect-ratio wing.

(a) The clear wing element

(b) The wing element with a control surface

(c) The wing element with an external store

Fig. 3. Three types of wing element section.

Fig. 4. The clear wing element.

GJðÞ @ 2 GJð1Þ GJð0Þ @ @ 2 @ 2h

2.1.3. The wing element with a control surface

S ðyÞ ¼ mðyÞx ðyÞ; ð6aÞ

S ðyÞ ¼ mðyÞx ðyÞ; ð6bÞ

EIðÞ @ 4 h 2ðEIð1Þ EIð0ÞÞ @ 3 h @ 2h

GJðÞ @ 2 GJð1Þ GJð0Þ @ @ 2 @ 2h

2.1.4. The wing element with an external store

GJðÞ @ 2 1 GJð1Þ GJð0Þ @1 @ 2 1

EIðÞ @ 4 h2 2ðEIð1Þ EIð0ÞÞ @ 3 h2 @ 2 h2

GJðÞ @ 2 2 GJð1Þ GJð0Þ @2 @ 2 2

T1 ð0 ; tÞ þ K ððtÞ 1 ð0 ; tÞÞ þ m0 x0 ¼ T2 ð0 ; tÞ;

2.2. Unsteady aerodynamic model

where the expression of Qa ; Ti ði ¼ 1; . . . ; 11Þ are given in literature 2 , which are

After introducing vector ´e and performing the Fourier transform to the

Mbe é ð ¼ 0; !Þ þ Nbe é ð ¼ 1; !Þ þ R0e é ð ¼ 0 ; !Þ ¼ ° e ð!Þ; ð20Þ

´e ð; !Þ ¼ He ð; !; V Þ° e ð!Þ þ f e ð; !Þ; ð23Þ

Fe ð; ; !; V Þ ¼ e Fe ð;!;V Þ ; ð24bÞ

Introducing the status vector ´e ð; !Þ, we get

¾e ð; !Þ ¼ Ee ðÞ´e ð; !Þ; ð26Þ

¾e ð; !Þ ¼ Ee ðÞHe ð; !; V Þ° e ð!Þ: ð27Þ

As we known before, the vector ° e ð!Þ is determined by the displacement on both

Further, the global equilibrium equation can be written as

Kð!; V Þ°ð!Þ ¼ Fð!Þ; ð30Þ

where Fð!Þ is the generalized global node load vector.

Since Kð!; V Þ is a complex matrix, vanishing of its determinant allows us to get

Refdet½Kð!; V Þg ¼ 0; ð33aÞ

Imfdet½Kð!; V Þg ¼ 0: ð33bÞ

Fig. 5. Flowchart of the proposed method for wing °utter problems.

4.1. Example 1: An uniform high-aspect-ratio wing

Table 1. The parameters of the aircraft wing.

Basic parameters Value

Position of the elastic axis (%chord) 50

Fig. 6. The contour of Reðdet AÞ and Imðdet AÞ.

that the present method is accurate and e±cient.

Fig. 7. The contour of Reðdet AÞ and Imðdet AÞ.

Table 2. The in°uences of mesh re¯nement on wing °utter

Meshing Flutter velocity (m/s) Flutter frequency (Hz)

5 elements 35.0 24.1

Secondly, in order to demonstrate the prominent advantage of the present

Fig. 8. Variation of Reðdet AÞ with velocity V ð! ¼ 0:001Þ.

Table 3. Torsional divergence velocity of the wing with di®erent physical

Cases Present solutions Analytic solutions

Case1 80% , 100%GJ, 100%e 58.26 58.32

4.2. Example 2: A general high-aspect-ratio wing

Table 4. The main parameters on the stations of the aircraft wing.

Fe ð; ; !; V Þ ¼ e Fe ð;!;V Þ ; ð24bÞ

¾e ð; !Þ ¼ Ee ðÞ´e ð; !Þ; ð26Þ

¾e ð; !Þ ¼ Ee ðÞHe ð; !; V Þ° e ð!Þ: ð27Þ

0.2 2.74 1:87 10 6 1:04 10 6 32.5 26.0

D11 ¼ b 2 ði!Þ 2 þ 2VbCð!; V Þði!Þ;

D12 ¼ b 2 ½ði!ÞV ba ði!Þ 2 þ 2VbCð!; V Þ½V þ bð0:5 a Þði!Þ;