Variable-order framework for aeroelastic flutter analysis of laminated composite wings

Abstract

This work presents a novel computational framework for aeroelastic flutter analysis of laminated composite wings. The proposed methodology combines a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for structural analysis with the unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM) for aerodynamic modeling. A specific and novel feature of the framework is a variable-order kinematic model, which enables the seamless analysis of lifting structures through different structural theories, such as beam and plate models. The coupling between the structural and aerodynamic models is performed under the assumptions of small structural deformations and aerodynamic perturbations. The framework has been implemented and validated against various experimental or numerical benchmark results for single- and multi-layer configurations available in the literature or obtained by employing industry-standard finite element codes for aeroelastic analysis. The obtained results show the accuracy and robustness of the proposed methodology, highlighting the capability of variable-order DG approximations to achieve faster convergence rates with respect to standard finite element methods, in terms of degrees of freedom. This makes the framework a powerful tool for rapid aeroelastic analysis of composite structures in the early stages of aircraft design.