A structure-coupled CFD method for time-marching flutter analysis

Aeroelastic analysis is a critical area of the aircraft design process, as a good understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the wing structure is essential to safe operation of the vehicle. The inevitable inaccuracies present in the modelling of such phenomena impose mass penalties, as large safety margins are necessitated, which in turn lead to overly stiff designs. In an effort to reduce the uncertainty in analysis methods, fully coupled CFD and structural models are under widespread development. This paper describes the results produced by such a system for a series of test cases based on the AGARD445.6 and MDO wings. Results relating to the latter are of particular interest, as significant variations were found to be produced by the different methodologies used in previous studies, the precise cause of which could not be isolated.