Ana C. Meinicke, Roberto G. A. da Silva, Patrice L. Guedes
DOI Number: N/A
Conference number: IFASD-2019-038
The design of the conventional configuration of commercial aircraft, composed by a tube fuselage, a cantilever wing and an empennage, has been improved since its introduction in the 1950s and it is unlikely that great improvements should occur without drastic changes. The strut braced wing aircraft presents itself as an option. The main difference lies on a strut connecting the wing to the fuselage, reducing the bending moment of the wing and, consequently, its weight. Alternatively, the wing span could be increased, or even the wing thickness decreased, without great weight penalties. This combination of geometric changes reduces drag and improves performance. To evaluate possible aeroelastic issues that might hinder the development of this configuration, a parametric flutter analysis is performed based on aircraft of regional aviation size. As a result it was observed that: (a) increasing the wing aspect ratio from 8.3 to 12 decreases the flutter speed in 20%; (b) if the engine is positioned exactly at the wing and strut intersection at 70% of the wing span instead of 50%, an increase of 30% in flutter speed is obtained; (c) and that the flutter speed can be increased by 35% if the spanwise wing and strut intersection is moved from 70% to 30 % of the span.