Body Freedom Flutter Study and Passive Flutter Suppression for a High Aspect Ratio Flying Wing Model

Normal mode and flutter analysis are conducted for a high aspect ratio aft swept flying wing model, and body freedom flutter is found to be the most critical aeroelastic instability for this air vehicle model. To determine the influence of various kinds of design parameters on BFF characteristics, eight factors are considered in the parametric study, i.e. wing vertical bending stiffness, weight and center of gravity of the wing root payload and the wing tip mass balance, wing half span, aft swept angle and the station of wing body blended line. After the parametric analysis, the mass and center of gravity of the wing root payload are selected as design variables, and the baseline model is utilized in the design optimization study subject to critical flutter speed constraint. Finally, the optimal mass balance design is suggested to suppress the body freedom flutter phenomenon passively and maximize the payload.