An experimental investigation of vibration testing of aircraft wing structure

Abstract

This report presents the experimental investigation and vibration analysis of an aircraft wing structure using impact testing. The importance of obtaining its vibration characteristics such as the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the aircraft wing structure to prevent flutter phenomena that can eventually lead to structural failure is also reviewed. After reviewing the vibration-related theories, experimental studies were carried out on the wing structure of the A4 Sky Hawk aircraft. Prior to that, the initial stages of the analysis involved the investigation of an individual I-beam with different impact hammer to determine the compatibility of equipments, accuracy and consistency of results obtained. Following that, comparisons of the modal parameters were highlighted and their significance on the quality of the frequency response functions (FRFs) were investigated and subsequently discussed. Next, based on the FRFs collected, the mode shapes of the wing structure were determined using the peak amplitude and identifying the element in the mode shape vector as positive or negative phase. The mode shapes were then plotted to understand the dynamic structural behavior and subsequently applying structural modification so that resonance can be avoided.