Design and GVT of a dynamically scaled wing structure for fuel sloshing investigations

The effect of fuel sloshing on aircraft wings is currently being investigated in the Airbus-led Sloshing Wing Dynamics (SLOWD) project with the aim of passively alleviating the gust loads on commercial aircraft. This work represents a step up in the experimental investigations of sloshing-induced damping in aircraft wings. A reduced-scale wing model is presented with a design based on genetic algorithm optimization for static and dynamic scaling. A good level of matching is shown with the scaled displacement field, target frequencies and mode shapes. Additional challenges when including the scaled fuel tank are discussed. Ground vibration tests (GVT) are conducted on the manufactured scaled structure to assess its dynamic properties and provide data for finite element model updating and further numerical and experimental sloshing investigations.