Flutter and divergence aeroelastic characteristics for composite forward swept cantilevered wing

An analytical investigation was conducted to determine the aeroelastic flutter and divergence behavior of a cantilevered, composite, forward swept rectangular wing. The influence due to the variation in the bendingtorsion stiffness coupling of the tailored wing on the flutter and divergence critical dynamic pressure is analyzed. The analytical approach utilizes the incompressible two-dimensional unsteady aerodynamic strip theory. Flutter and divergence velocities were obtained by using an optimization procedure that solves exactly the coupled bending-torsion equations for a cantilevered swept wing. The results indicate that the flutter and divergent of a fixed-root wing involve a compromise, since the bending-torsion stiffness that maximizes the flutter velocity tends to minimize the divergent speed and vice versa.