A Teaching Experience: Aeroelasticity and the Finite Element Method

The aeroelastic modelling of aircraft structures is a fundamental area for the students of Aerospace Engineering Degree. This subject has a strongly multidisciplinary character and involves other several subjects like mechanics, vibrations, aerodynamics, structural analysis. Consequently, the students find stimulating the challenge of merging their knowledge at different areas. In this paper, a teaching experience on the solution of the aeroelastic problem of a 3D-wing through six different computer tasks is presented. The main objective is to attempt a relatively complex problem using a simple version of the Finite Element Method with only four degrees of freedom. The students begin creating the shape functions of the discrete model and finish solving the flutter instability problem.