Semi-Analytical Flutter Analysis of a Light UAV Wing

This work presents an eigenvalue-based flutter analysis of a light UAV wing, including identification of stability characteristics and evaluation of critical flutter speeds through a Two Degrees of Freedom (2-DOF) Reduced Order Model (ROM), followed by its numerical validation and a parametric study analyzing the effects of thickness of structural members of the wing on its flutter speed. 2-DOF bending and torsional flutter equations are derived herein using Lagrange's equations, which are transformed into an eigenvalue problem for identification of stability characteristics at specified flight conditions. Extension of this eigenvalue framework is used for evaluation of critical flutter speeds for a range of altitudes. A two-fold numerical validation has been carried out with Nx NASTRAN using k- and pk methods, and a reasonably close agreement amongst the results is observed. The work concludes with a parametric study, which presents the effect of thickness of structural members on the flutter speed.