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University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

School of Mechanical, Industrial & Aeronautical Engineering
MECN2003: Software Development
Laboratory 6: MatLab 2
Students are to work in pairs and submit the finished lab via Ignite by 0800 the morning following the tutorial.
Students are to work in pairs and submit the finished lab to the demonstrators by the end of the
afternoon session.
A Wiffle tree is a system of beams used to suspend a wing or aircraft in such a way that the applied loads mechanically simulate the aerodynamic loads experienced during a particular flight
condition. Wiffle trees were originally used to test the static strength of aircraft structures, a significant improvement, if only in terms of sophistication, on previous methods involving people
standing on the wings or placing sandbags over the stucture. Modern Wiffle trees are used in
accelerated fatigue testing of structures to allow for advance detection of structural weakening
to allow airframe manufacturers to notify users of the aircraft to schedule the required remedial
actions, whether parts replacement, local strengthening or grounding.
In its simplest form the Wiffle tree uses several levels of branching beams to distribute a single
load into a series of point loads on the structure which approximately follow the load distribution
on the wing. The loads are transmitted to the wing by chains attached to the wing in the region
of the leading and trailing edge spars of the wing. An example of this sort of Wiffle tree can
be seen on the mezzanine level in the Barloworld laboratories (North West Engineering). Since
the aerodynamic loads on a wing are a function of flight speed, altitude and angle of attack, any
particular configuration of this sort of Wiffle tree can only represent one or a few combinations
of these factors while modern trees can be used to model a broad range of loads.
The distribution of the applied loads is done by means of a balance of forces and moments for
each beam. A generally loaded beam of this sort is shown below:

y+ M+

F12

F1

F2

Where:
F12 is the total load applied to the beam
F1 and F2 are the resultant loads at points 1 and 2 respectively
is the total length of the beam
1 and 2 are the lengths of the beam between the point of application of F12 and points
1 and 2 respectively

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Assuming that beam is in equilibrium and that there is negligible bending, the following relations hold:
Fy = 0

(1)

M1 = 0

(2)

Thus:
Fy = 0
F12 F1 F2 = 0
F1 = F12 F2

(3)

Also:
M1 = 0
F12 1 F2 = 0
1
F2 = F12

(4)

From equations 3 and 4:

F1 =

2
F12

(5)

A MatLab function is required which will calculate the distributed load for a wing loaded by a
3-tier Wiffle tree. It will require an input of the 14 lengths relevant to the 7 beams involved as
ordered pairs (i.e. listed in pairs from the first beam to the last) from a user-selected .csv file.
A sample of the input file is given as BeamLengths.csv. The user wll also need to specify the
magnitude of the applied load via the GUI input system. The magnitudes of the calculated loads
must be reported from the root of the wing to the tip via a GUI display box indicating all the
forces by name and their magnitudes. A schematic of the load and beam numbering convention
is given below.

3
7
F1

FTotal

Root

9
F2

F3

2
5

10

11
F4

F5

12

13
F6

F7

14
F8

Bonus marks will be awarded for elements of the code which improve the robustness / flexibility
thereof such as input checking and re-entry of information if it is incorrect in format or such.
Programs are to be submitted via the Ignite interface. Students must submit only their program
file named MatLab2Groupn.m, where n is their group number on the MECN2003 Ignite page.
[20 Marks + 2 Bonus Marks]