Frequency Analysis of Wing with Morphing Winglets

This thesis report presents a structural and vibrational analysis experiment of a wing model with morphing winglets. It details the theory behind Aeroelasticity and its importance to the aircraft’s structural integrity. It provides methods to validate the structural integrity and performance of the wing which will allow engineers to optimize the wing design. The experiment was developed and designed by undergraduate thesis students in collaboration with the faculty of the Aerospace Department at Toronto Metropolitan University. The wing model of the wing was created based on the dimensions obtained for the wind tunnel at Toronto Metropolitan University. The wing was designed to have a locking mechanism that allows the morphing winglets at various cant angles to attach safely and firmly onto the wing. After creating the CAD models of the wing with morphing winglets at 15°, 25°, 35°, and 45° on a popular design software known as Solidworks, the static structural and vibrational analysis were conducted on ANSYS Workbench. Using vibrational analysis, the first 6 mode shapes of the model were determined. It was found that the natural frequency of the wing with morphing winglets was around 29 Hz for the various cant angle configurations. An analytical solution was also obtained on MATLAB through several iterations. The flutter speed of the analytical solution was found to be 57.65 m/s. Through the principle of damping extrapolation, the natural frequency of the analytical solution was found to be 33.2 Hz which was similar to the theoretical results. For further study in this undergraduate thesis, the next steps involve manufacturing the wing and conducting the Ground Vibration Test (GVT) and the wind tunnel test on the model to determine the frequency of vibration, mode shapes, and damping ratios.