Absolute nodal coordinate formulations for aeroelastic analysis of next-generation aircraft wings

Future aircraft have a high aspect ratio wing (HARW). The low induced drag of the wing can reduce fuel consumption, which enables eco-friendly flight. HARW cannot be designed by using conventional linear aeroelastic analysis methods because it undergoes very flexible motion. Although absolute nodal coordinate formulations (ANCF) have been widely used for analyzing various flexible structures, their application to HAWR is limited because the derivation of the ANCF elastic force for wing cross section is difficult. In this paper, we first describe three ANCF-based beam models that address the difficulty. The three models have different characteristics. Second, an aeroelastic coupling between the beam models and a medium-fidelity aerodynamic model based on unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM) is briefly explained. Especially, the advantage of ANCF in the aeroelastic coupling is emphasized. Finally, we newly compare the three ANCF-based models in structural and aeroelastic analyses. From the viewpoint of the convergence performance and calculation time, we found the best ANCF-based beam model among the three models in static structural and aeroelastic analyses, while the three models have comparable performances in dynamic structural and aeroelastic analyses. These findings contribute to the development of aeroelastic analysis framework based on ANCF and the design of next-generation aircraft wings.