Structural Analysis and Optimization of a Jet Trainer Aircraft Wing Using Fluid–Structure Interaction

The current research aims to investigate the structural deformation, equivalent von Mises stress, and safety factor outcomes of a simplified jet trainer aircraft wing using a fluid–structure interaction (FSI) approach and optimize the structure for safe flight without lowering the structural safety margin of 1.2. The wing geometry is designed in the Ansys Design Modeler, and Aluminum alloy 2024 T3 and Aluminum alloy 7075 T6 are assigned as the material of the wing. The pressure distribution on the wing is calculated from the commercial software code Ansys Fluent and, later on, coupled with static structural analysis to solve the FSI problem. Experimental pressure coefficient data of the Onera M6 aircraft wing, tested in the NASA laboratory, is validated using Ansys Fluent. Keeping an angle of attack of 3⁰, the Mach number is varied from 0.5 to 0.8, and it was found that increasing the Mach number would increase the equivalent von Mises stress drastically, from 61.946 MPa to 236.52 MPa, passing the safety margin of the yield stress of 315 MPa. In addition, keeping the Mach number constant at 0.8 and changing the angle of attack from 0⁰ to 12⁰ would result in a rise in equivalent stress up to 411.33 MPa in linear analysis, which is higher than the yield stress, suggesting the potential plastic failure of the wing. Considering the maximum Mach number of 0.8 and angle of attack of 8⁰, an optimization is proposed to check how the thickness of the skin, ribs, and spars can be varied to bring down the stress generated on the root of the wing. A response surface optimization was conducted for satisfying the margin of safety for the wing.