This study experimentally investigates the nonlinear aeroelastic response of three NACA 0012 wing configurations–Wing-Uniform (WU), Wing-Graded A (WG-A), and Wing-Graded B (WG-B)–distinguished by their spanwise mass distribution. The wings were fabricated using polylactic acid (PLA) via Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and tested under subsonic conditions in a low-speed wind tunnel. Mass distribution was varied by adjusting infill density gradients during the additive manufacturing pre-processing stage. The primary objective is to evaluate the influence of spanwise mass distribution on flutter onset and aeroelastic stability across a range of preset angles of incidence. Bifurcation analysis was used to capture the system’s nonlinear dynamics, including stall flutter and qualitative transitions. Experiments were conducted at lower (0, 10) and higher (15, 20) preset angles of incidence. At lower angles, all wings exhibited stall flutter, with WG-B demonstrating the highest flutter speed and the widest subcritical range. At higher angles, WG-A displayed complex nonlinear dynamics, including period-3 and aperiodic responses. WU consistently showed stall flutter, with low-to-high amplitude limit cycle oscillation (LCO) transitions at 20. These findings underscore that changes in spanwise mass distribution influence flutter margins and aeroelastic stability primarily through their effect on the wing’s effective inertial properties.
Kumar et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: