Static Finite Element Validation of a Flexible Micro Air Vehicle

The flexible-wing approach has proven to be a successful method for designing micro air vehicles. The wing’s passive deformation under wind loads can allow for gust rejection, delayed stall, or improved longitudinal stability. As such, an accurate structural model of the flexible wing can provide greater understanding of the aforementioned phenomena. This paper seeks to formulate a static finite element wing model, with a particular emphasis on accuracy. The wing is broken into three different types of elements: beams, plates, and membranes. Individual element types are characterized and validated by constructing simple structures from the appropriate material, and then comparing experimental and numerical deformation fields. Experimental results are found through a visual image correlation system. The elements are then combined to form the complete wing model, which is also validated through experiments. The resulting finite element model is found to be very accurate, able to predict the complicated structural response of a composite wing. Due to observations made during standard wind tunnel testing, the structural response of a typical membrane MAV wing in steady level pre-stall flight is thought to be quasi-static. As such, the finite element model formulated in this work will be indispensable towards future numerical static aeroelastic optimization research efforts aimed at improving the efficiency, agility, and sensitivity of practical micro air vehicles.