EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF FUEL SLOSHING EFFECTS ON WING DYNAMICS

We provide an overview of a series of experimental tests performed by the Loads & Aeroelastics department at Airbus in support of a broader research activity, aiming at modelling the dissipative effects of fuel sloshing on the dynamic behavior of wing-like structures. We describe the test setup, its similarity with the actual wing-structure of a large civil aircraft, the scaling rules applied, the measuring equipment and the practical considerations which drove the design of the test rig. The free vibration of this wing-like structure is compared for cases with and without sloshing, showing the potential of exploiting the dissipation inherent to the fluid structure interaction process for dynamic load alleviation.