The adoption of very large aspect ratio wings is the next frontier in the design of future aircraft. The reason being the superior aerodynamic performance in terms of Lift/Drag ratio and therefore reduced fuel consumption. When designing such wings, it is critical that the deformation and the aeroelastic properties of the wing are carefully addressed to avoid losing airworthiness. This project will aim at streamlining the process of performing fluid-structure interaction studies for large aspect ratio wing with a focus on a recent aircraft design from NASA and MIT, named SUGAR VOLTA. A parametric study will be carried out to assess the deformation incurred in the wing subject to different aerodynamic loads typical of a medium-range passengers aircraft. Key objectives:

Streamline (via bash or python scripting) the fludi-structure interaction simulation process based on the CFD solver SU2 (https://su2code.github.io); Identify a suitable parameter space and associated conditions for which the analyses will be realised; Perform the FSI study and characterise the deformation of the wign in terms of bending and torsion amplitudes.