Improving wing aeroelastic characteristics using periodic design

Flutter is a dangerous phenomenon encountered in flexible structures subjected to aerodynamic forces. This includes aircraft, buildings and bridges. Flutter occurs as a result of interactions between aerodynamic, stiffness, and inertia forces on a structure. In an aircraft, as the speed of the flow increases, there may be a point at which the structural damping is insufficient to damp out the motion which is increasing due to aerodynamic energy being added to the structure. This vibration can cause structural failure, and therefore considering flutter characteristics is an essential part of designing an aircraft. Scientists and engineers studied flutter and developed theories and mathematical tools to analyze the phenomenon. Strip theory aerodynamics, beam structural models, unsteady lifting surface methods (e.g., Doublet-Lattice) and finite element models expanded analysis capabilities. Periodic Structures have been in the focus of research for their useful characteristics and ability to attenuate vibration in frequency bands called "stop-bands". A periodic structure consists of cells which differ in material or geometry. As vibration waves travel along the structure and face the cell boundaries, some waves pass and some are reflected back, which may cause destructive interference with the succeeding waves. This may reduce the vibration level of the structure, and hence improve its dynamic performance. In this paper, for the first time, we analyze the flutter characteristics of a wing with a periodic change in its sandwich construction. The new technique preserves the external geometry of the wing structure and depends on changing the material of the sandwich core. The periodic analysis and the vibration response characteristics of the model are investigated using a finite element model for the wing. Previous studies investigating the dynamic bending response of a periodic sandwich beam in the absence of flow have shown promising results.