AAE 556 Homework February 12-19, 2001

AAE 556 – Homework #10 due Monday February 19, 2001

An active control system consists of a layer of smart material embedded in a swept wing.
This material can be controlled by a feedback control law to create a concentrated end
moment M0 = kθ . The idealized swept wing model shown consists of a semi-rigid surface
restrained by a bending spring and a torsion spring to resist rotations φ and θ , respectively.

Kφ
Kθ

Λ
θ
φ

Mo = kθ

Swept wing model planform and geometry

(a) Write the matrix equations of static equilibrium when the wing is given an initial angle
of attack α o , with respect to the freestream.

(b) Derive the expression for the divergence dynamic pressure and the value of wing sweep
angle Λ cr , above which wing divergence cannot occur ( Λ > Λcr , no divergence).

(c) Develop the expression for the flexural axis as a function of the gain parameter k and
other model parameters.

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AAE 556 Homework February 12-19, 2001

AAE 556 – Homework #11- Folding swept wing bending – Due Monday February 19,
2001

A swept wing with an outboard aileron

is built in two pieces so that it can
operate from an aircraft carrier. As a
result, once the wing is down and V Vn
locked into position, it has a flexible
Λ
joint at the wing mid-point. There nKφ
have been some complaints from test Kφ
pilots that this wing has not developed panel 1
the lift that it should in high speed
flight. It also has a tendency to be panel 2
"sluggish" when the pilot executes a b
roll maneuver. 2
c
b
The designer of the joint denies
2
liability, although when “aeroelastic
effects” were mentioned he did seem
puzzled. To estimate the effect of the Figure 1 - Folding swept wing joint
bending flexibility of this joint on the configuration/idealization
airloads, a simple model shown in
Figure 1 is to be used. Bending springs are placed at the wing root and at the mid-point to represent
wing flexibility and the flexible joint.

We will examine the effects of wing joint flexibility on divergence dynamic pressure, flexural axis
position and aileron effectiveness. In this case, aileron effectiveness is defined as the amount of lift
generated by the aileron deflection on the flexible wing, divided by the lift generated on a similar, but
rigid, wing.

Problem statement

The bending stiffness of the joint is nKφ (n > 0) . In the limit as n tends to infinity, the joint will
become rigid. Use the aerodynamic model developed in class with θ = 0.

q n ca o b 2
(a) Find the wing lift effectiveness as a function of n and the parameter q = 8 Kφ .
Plot wing lift effectiveness vs. q when Λ = 15 ,o 30 o and n=0.5, 1, 10.

(b) Find the expression for the wing aileron effectiveness for a swept wing, measured as the
Lflex
value of Lrigid when a half semi-span aileron is used and aileron deflection δ o is input
with n = 0.5 . Plot aileron lift effectiveness vs. q for three different sweep angles,
0,o 15, o 30 o Show reversal points

(c) Find q R and q D when n = 0.5 .

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AAE 556 Homework February 12-19, 2001

Solution start for part (a)

The free-body-diagram for this

problem is shown in Figures 2
L2
and 3.
aileron
R12 L1 b
L1
nKφ (φ 2 − φ1 )
4
joint
φ2
wing
K1φ1 root
b
b
4
φ1 2

angles are
exagerrated
Figure 2 - Free body diagram b
2

Figure 3 - Side-view of model showing bending degrees of

freedom

The lift per unit lift on Panel 1 is

 α 
l1 = qncclα  o − φ1 tan Λ
 cos Λ 

The lift per unit length on Panel 2 is given by the expression

 α 
l2 = qncc lα  o − φ 2 tan Λ  + qncclδ δ 0
 cosΛ 
The following is a check point

(n + 1 + q tan Λ ) (− n + 2q tan Λ ) φ1  3 α o

=q

 (− n ) (n + q tan Λ )  φ 2  1 cos Λ

The final check point is

b  q tan Λ + 2n  α 
L = qn cclα    2 2  o 
 2   q tan Λ + ( 4n + 1)q tan Λ + n  cos Λ 

αo
If the wing were rigid, the lift would be Lrigid = qncbc lα
cos Λ

Now – go do it.

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AAE 556 Homework February 12-19, 2001

Parts (b) and (c) start

To investigate the effect of joint flexibility on aileron effectiveness, let α o =0 and n=0.5
so that

 3  
 + q tan Λ (−0.5 + 2q tan Λ) φ1  = q clδ 2 
 δ o
 2    1 
 −0.5 (0.5 + q tanΛ )  φ2  clα
The rigid wing lift is
b
Lrigid = qnc clδ δo
2
Show that
 0.5 − q tan Λ  b 
L flex = q n cclδ δ o  2  

 q tan Λ + 3q tan Λ + 0.5  2 
2

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AAE 556 Homework February 12-19, 2001

Problem #12 - The effect of swept wing bending on aircraft trim (Due Monday
Feb. 19, 2001)

Wing bending changes the angle of attack required to support the weight of an airplane with
swept wings; we will study this effect using the idealization shown in Figure 1. The
streamwise pitch attitude required to maintain lift is α o . A horizontal stabilizer maintains
this pitch attitude. Its lift is ignored so that the total wing lift is taken to be equal to the load
factor, n , times the total aircraft weight, W .

αο
V

spanwise c.g.
fy

Λ Vn=Vcos Λ
y

spanwise
center of y
A pressure
A
L
c.g. c..p
. φ
K y
βnW
2
view A-A

Figure 1 - Sweptwing aircraft idealization

The idealization shown in Figure 1 has two identical wing sections. The wing section
spanwise center of gravity is located a distance fy from the idealized spring location. The
distributed wing lift has a spanwise center of pressure a distance y from the spring. When
the trimmed load factor is n the lift on each wing section on the aircraft is L and is given by

 α  nW
L = qn SCL  o − φ tan Λ = (1)
α  cos Λ  2

where φ is the bending slope (identical for both wings) in Figure 1 and α o is the pitch angle
of the aircraft. The weight of each idealized wing section outboard of the bending spring
(written as w ) is a fraction of the aircraft weight. As a result, the total wing weight, written
as
wing weight = 2w = βW (2)

1. Find the bending slope φ . Use the wing free-body diagram shown in Figure 2.

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AAE 556 Homework February 12-19, 2001

L
Kφ y
φ

βnW
R 2
fy
Figure 2 - Wing free body diagram

−K
Find the divergence dynamic pressure. I get q D = . The wing cannot
SC Lα y sin Λ cos Λ
diverge unless it is sweptforward (Λ < 0 ).

2. Solve for the aircraft angle of attack required to generate the lift required to support the
flexible airplane Note - If there were no wing flexibility, the angle of attack of the rigid
nW  q 
airplane would be α r = I get α o = α r  1− (1− fβ ) If the spanwise
2qSCLα cos Λ  qD 
center of pressure and the wing c.g. are located in approximately the same position, then
 q 
f = 1, then α o = α R  1 − (1 − β )
 qD 

q α
3. Define the dynamic pressure parameter η = so that o = 1− η(1 − β ). Plot this
qD αr
equation for four different values of β, 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0. for the range η = -1 to 1. How
does a sweptforward wing differ from a swept back wing when it comes to trim angle
size? Notice that η < 0 is a swept back wing.

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