Author(s)

Shengyong Zhang^*, Mike Mikulich

Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Sciences, Purdue University Northwest, Westville, USA.

Excessive vibration of aircraft wings during flight is harmful and may cause propagation of existing cracks in the material, leading to catastrophic failures as a result of material fatigue. This study investigates the variations of modal characteristics of aircraft wings with respect to changes in the structural configurations. We develop parametric Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models to capture new design intend on the aircraft wing architectures. Subsequent Finite Element Analysis (FEA) based vibration analysis is performed to study the effects of architecture changes on the wing’s natural frequencies and mode shapes. It is concluded that the spar placement and the number of ribs have significant influence on the wing’s natural vibration properties. Integrating CAD modelling and FEA vibration analysis enables designers to develop alternative wing architectures to implement design requirements in the preliminary design stage.

Parametric Modelling, CAD, Aircraft Wings, FEA, Vibration Analysis

Zhang, S. and Mikulich, M. (2021) Parametric CAD Modelling of Aircraft Wings for FEA Vibration Analysis. Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics, 9, 889-900. doi: 10.4236/jamp.2021.95060.