Date of Award

3-2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

First Advisor

Raymond C. Maple, PhD

Abstract

A computational aeroelastic analysis of a micro air vehicle (MAV) is conducted. This MAV has a 24 inch wing span, and is designed for local area reconnaissance. Wind tunnel data for the MAV with a rigid carbon fiber wing and a flexible carbon fiber ribbed nylon wing are compared to CFD results incorporating static and dynamic deformations. We use laser vibrometry to determine the mode shapes of the flexible wing. From these shapes, CFD grid deformations are calculated as part of a closely-coupled aeroelastic solution method. The accuracy of MAV performance predictions using CFD with and without aeroelastic modeling is evaluated against previous wind-tunnel experiments. The performance benefits of the flexible wing, and the applicability and limitations of the model are evaluated in the present research effort. Some suggestions are made as to improvements that can be made to increase the range of applicability and the accuracy of the model.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GAE-ENY-05-M23

DTIC Accession Number

ADA437553

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