Aeroelastic Behavior of 3D-Printed Tapered Polylactic Acid Plates Under Subsonic Flow Conditions

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Materials Science
• Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Static properties of 3D-printed components for drones and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are well-researched.
• Dynamic behavior, particularly flutter, in these components remains less understood.
• Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a common 3D printing technique for producing components from materials like polylactic acid (PLA).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the aeroelastic stability of tapered PLA plates manufactured via FDM.
• To analyze the flutter behavior of these plates under low-Mach-number airflow.
• To compare analytical predictions with experimental data to validate a dynamic aeroelastic analysis approach.

Main Methods:

• Application of a binary flutter model to thin PLA plates.
• Analytical prediction of flutter speeds.
• Experimental validation using wind-tunnel tests.

Main Results:

• Strong agreement was observed between analytically predicted flutter speeds and experimental data.
• The proposed dynamic aeroelastic analysis method was confirmed as valid.
• The study provides a reliable methodology for assessing flutter in 3D-printed aerodynamic surfaces.

Conclusions:

• The dynamic aeroelastic analysis approach is effective for predicting flutter in FDM-printed PLA plates.
• This research contributes to the safe and efficient design of aerodynamic surfaces for UAS.
• Further studies can leverage this methodology for advanced UAS component development.