Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulation of a Membrane Wing Using the Two-Way Fluid Structure Interaction Approach

In this study the strongly coupled method (two-way fluid structural interaction (FSI)) is presented to simulate the membrane wings used in ultralight aircraft. In the present study, numerical modeling is performed by commercial software ANSYS using two separate solvers one for fluid and one for structure. Unlike the one-way method, the two-way coupled method, membrane wing deformation is considered at each time step, which increases the accuracy of the simulation. The membrane wings are made of fabric covering on the naca 2418 plan. fabric is considered to be orthotropic and non-porous. Influence of angle of attack, Young's modulus and thickness of fabric on the aerodynamic coefficients and membrane wing deformation were investigated. All simulations were performed at Re=100000. The results show that increasing the Young’s modulus from 180.25 to 270 MPa reduces the maximum membrane displacement in X and Y direction by 81% and 78%, respectively. Increasing the fabric thickness from 0.4 to 0.6 mm also reduced the maximum displacement of the membrane wings in the X and Y directions by 85 and 80%, respectively.