Wing Structural Design of a High Altitude Long Endurance Solar-Powered Platform

Abstract

The solar-powered platform has great application prospects with its unique characteristics of high cruising altitude and long endurance. This paper presents a high-aspect-ratio long straight composite wing structure. A 3D FEM model is used to study the mechanical performance of the wing under gust, by applying nonlinear analytical method. The wing optimization is focused on high stiffness and light weight. A wing structure of feasible strength and stiffness is obtained. Through analysis, several engineering conclusions are obtained. In addition, the instability features of the main spar are included as well.