A Computational Aeroelastic Framework for Studying Non-conventional Aeronautical Systems

SERGIO PREIDIKMAN; BRUNO A. ROCCIA; MARCOS L. VERSTRAETE; LUIS R. CEBALLOS; BALAKUMAR BALACHANDRAN

Florianópolis

Simposio; 6th International Symposium on Multibody Systems and Mechatronics ? MuSMe; 2017

FeIbIM Commission for Mechatronics and IFToMM Technical Committees for Multibody Dynamics, and Robotics and Mechatronics

A computational co-simulation framework to study the aeroelastic behavior of a variety of aeronautical systems characterized by highly flexible structures undergoing complex motions in space and immersed in a low-subsonic flow is presented. The authors combine a non-linear aerodynamic model based on an extended version of the unsteady vortex-lattice method with a non-linear structural model based on a segregated formulation of Lagrange?s equations obtained with the Floating Frame of Reference formalism. The structural modelconstruction allows for hybrid combinations of different models typically usedwith multi-body systems, such as models based on rigid-body dynamics, assumed-modes techniques, and finite-element methods. The governing equations are numerically integrated in the time domain to obtain the structural response and the consistent flowfield around it. The integration is based on the fourth-order predictor-corrector method of Hamming. The findings are found to capture known non-linear behavior of these non-conventional flight systems. The developed framework should be relevant for conducting aeroelastic studies on a wide variety of aeronautical systems such as: micro-air-vehicles (MAVs) inspired by biology, morphing wings, and joined-wing aircrafts, among others.