Gust Alleviation of a Large Aircraft with a Passive Twist Wingtip

This paper presents an investigation into the gust response and wing structure load alleviation of a 200-seater aircraft by employing a passive twist wingtip (PTWT). The research was divided into three stages. The first stage was the design and analysis of the baseline aircraft, including aerodynamic analysis, structural design using the finite element (FE) method and flutter analysis to meet the design requirements. Dynamic response analysis of the aircraft to discrete (one-cosin) gust was also performed in a range of gust radiances specified in the airworthiness standards. In the second stage, a PTWT of a length of 1.13 m was designed with the key parameters determined based on design constraints and, in particular, the aeroelastic stability and gust response. Subsequent gust response analysis was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the PTWT for gust alleviation. The results show that the PTWT produced a significant reduction of gust-induced wingtip deflection by 21% and the bending moment at the wing root by 14% in the most critical flight case. In the third stage, effort was made to study the interaction and influence of the PTWT on the symmetric and unsymmetrical manoeuvring of the aircraft when ailerons were in operation. The results show the that PTWT influence with a reduction of the aircraft normal velocity and heave motion by 1.7% and 3%, respectively, is negligible. However, the PTWT influence on the aircraft roll moment with a 20.5% reduction is significant. A locking system is therefore required in such a manoeuvring condition. The investigation has shown that the PTWT is an effective means for gust alleviation and, therefore, has potential for large aircraft application. OPEN ACCESS Aerospace 2015, 3 136