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Abstract: This paper constructs the design optimization framework for the composite wing of a tiltrotor aircraft based on the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) Smart Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SUAV) TRS4 model. The present optimal design attempts to find the cross-section layout that minimizes the structural weight of a composite wing, while satisfying a series of design constraints. The framework consists of various analysis and design tools that include a 2-D beam cross-section analysis, a whirl flutter analysis, and a 3-D strain/stress analysis under the worst wing-loading case. The variation of wing sectional properties of tiltrotor aircrafts in the course of design optimization greatly affects the whirl flutter stability and shows considerable influence on the structural integrity of the wing. In the design framework, the whirl flutter stability is analysed by the nonlinear flexible multibody analysis code DYMORE and the structural integrity is investigated using a MATLAB-based 3-D strain analysis module along with the previous load analysis result. The MATLAB is used to conduct the optimization with a gradient-based optimizer and integrate all of the design and analysis tools. The nonlinear constraints associated with the aeroelastic stability and the structural integrity are also considered. For optimal design examples using the developed framework, a simplified cross-section model based on the KARI SUAV TRS4 composite wing is considered as an initial model. Design optimization examples are investigated to show the validity of the proposed framework and to illustrate the reduction of the structural weight of the composite wing. It is observed that weight reductions of wing structures by 26% and 40% are achieved, while maintaining the whirl flutter stability margins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the present work, a mixed beam approach that combines both the stiffness and the flexibility formulation in a unified manner has been performed to analyze the elastically-coupled composite beams with closed cross-sections. The analysis model includes the effects of elastic couplings, shell wall thickness, torsion warping, and constrained warping. The Reissner’s semi-complementary energy functional is used to derive the beam force–displacement relations. The theory is validated against detailed finite element analysis results for coupled composite beams with single and double-celled box sections. Various layup cases of box beams with bending–torsion or extension–torsion couplings are considered to evaluate whether all the significant non-classical structural effects of composites are captured in the beam theory. Good correlation of the present theory with the finite element analysis is obtained over the different cases. Numerical results showing the accuracy of the approach are demonstrated in the framework of the analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]