The Warping Restraint Effect in the Critical and Subcritical Static Aeroelastic Behavior of Swept Forward Composite Wing Structures

An exact approach to the aeroelastic spanwise lift distribution and divergence instability of swept (aft and back) uniform composite wing structures is developed in this paper. The approach based on the Laplace transform technique enables one to solve in a unified manner both aeroelastic problems. The analysis encompasses the cases of free and restrained warping models for the wing twist. Numerical results are finally presented to demonstrate the effects played by the fiber-orientation, ply lay-up, warping restraint and wing geometry both on the subcritical static aeroelastic response and on the divergence instability of composite swept wings.