Preliminary design of aeroelastically tailored wing box structures with bend-twist coupling

Nowadays the composite materials have become the materials of choice to be used in the new aerospace structures that need to be not only larger and larger in size but also to be better performing in terms of aeroelastic responses inherent to thin-walled, slender structures. The advantage of composite materials airframes stems from their low structural weight which determines lower fuel consumption while preserving at the same time the airworthiness of the designed aircraft. But more important than the fuel consumption, the composite materials allow for the optimal tailoring of its layers in terms of specific design objectives. The paper presents such an aeroelastically tailored load carrying wing model which can passively control specific aeroelastic effects. The article focuses on the bend-twist coupling of the structural response to aerodynamic forces and on the parameter estimation/model updating techniques used to characterize the finite element model of the composite wing. Results are compared and validated with analytical, numerical and experimental data available in published literature