TRANSONIC AEROELASTICITY OF WINGS WITH TIP STORES.

The presence of tip stores influences both the aerodynamic and aeroelastic performances of wings. Such effects are more pronounced in the transonic regime. In this study, transonic aeroelasticity of wings with tip stores is studied for the first time by a theoretical method using the unsteady, small-disturbance transonic aerodynamic equations coupled with modal structural equations of motion. The aerodynamic and structural equations of motion are simultaneously integrated by a time-accurate numerical scheme. To validate the tip store simulation, aeroelastic computations are made for a typical rectangular wing with a tip store and results are compared with the corresponding wing without the tip store at various flight conditions. Aeroelastic computations are also made for a typical fighter wing with a tip store. Present computations show that it is important to account for the aerodynamics of the tip store, particularly in the transonic regime where the tip store can make the wing aeroelastically less stable.