Journal of Computational Applied Mechanics

Influence of Spanwise FGM and Numerical Parameters on the Fluid-Structure Interaction Response of a Cantilevered Plate Wing

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

2 Department of Mechanical Design and Production, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Egypt

Abstract

This study investigates the nonlinear aeroelastic response and flutter behavior of a cantilevered plate wing using a two-way fluid–structure interaction framework in ANSYS, coupling Fluent and Mechanical. Both isotropic Aluminum and a spanwise functionally graded Al/Al₂O₃ material system are examined. The aerodynamic solver is validated against published S809 airfoil data, followed by validation of the cantilevered wing model. A sensitivity analysis is performed by varying the time step size (0.02–0.002 s) and the number of coupling iterations (5 and 10). Larger time steps introduce fluctuations in peak oscillation amplitudes and can delay growth through the critical flow speed window, whereas smaller time steps reduce these fluctuations and diminish iteration sensitivity. A mid-range configuration (∆t = 0.005 s, 10 iterations) provides results comparable to the finest settings at substantially lower computational cost. Using these parameters, the aeroelastic response of a spanwise functionally graded wing—constructed by dividing the span into ten segments with linear grading (k = 1)—is assessed. The FGM wing exhibits no flutter within the investigated flow speed range and shows markedly reduced tip displacement, maintaining RMS amplitudes below 0.01 mm, in contrast to the Aluminum baseline, which displays the expected increase in response with flow speed. The results demonstrate that a time step of 0.005 s with ten coupling iterations is sufficient for reliable flutter prediction under ANSYS student license constraints, and that spanwise FGM application significantly enhances aeroelastic stability.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Journal of Computational Applied Mechanics
Volume 57, Issue 3
July 2026
Pages 391-412
  • Receive Date: 05 February 2026
  • Revise Date: 21 February 2026
  • Accept Date: 22 February 2026