Aerodynamic-Structural Design Studies of Low-Sweep Transonic WingsAerodynamic-Structural Design Studies of Low-Sweep Transonic Wings

摘要

The work presented herein explores the possibility of extending some commonly accepted limits related to the general layout of an efficient transonic wing. Specifically, the Mach-Sweep-Thickness relationships are revisited at a cursory level. High-fidelity aerodynamic and aerodynamic-structural optimizations are performed on a set of wings constructed by a parametric variation on wing sweep. These study wings are derived from a baseline wing representative of current aircraft design practices. Initial results show that it may be possible to significantly reduce wing sweep without incurring either aerodynamic or structural penalties, especially for M < 0,8 aircraft designs. Although more work is required to better quantify the magnitude of the potential improvements possible Nonetheless, with existing aerodynamic and aerodynamic-structural optimization software, the possibility of enhancing the current knowledge base of wing planform layout is now within grasp.