Aero-Structural Integrated Design of Forward Swept Wing

Forward swept wing (FSW) is known to have excellent performance relative to aft swept wing. The practical application, however, has been limited due to its structural divergence characteristics. The current progress in materials, especially anisotropic composites has opened up new future for FSW. This paper describes design study of FSW for transonic transport looking for high drag divergence performance. Inverse code is applied to FSW aerodynamic design to achieve isobar design concept. The performance is verified by transonic wind tunnel test. The paper also mentions the development of aero-structural integrated design tool, a combination of aerodynamic analysis code and structural analysis code, which is essential to FSW wing development.