Application of artificial neural networks to predict dynamic responses of wing structures due to atmospheric turbulence

This paper studies the applicability of an efficient numerical model based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict the dynamic responses of the wing structure of an airplane due to atmospheric turbulence in the time domain. The turbulence velocity is given in the form of a stationary Gaussian random process with the von Karman power spectral density. The wing structure is modeled by a classical beam considering bending and torsional deformations. An unsteady vortex-lattice method is applied to estimate the aerodynamic pressure distribution on the wing surface. Initially, the trim condition is obtained, then structural dynamic responses are computed. The numerical solution of the wing structure’s responses to a random turbulence profile is used as a training data for the ANN. The current ANN is a three-layer network with the output fed back to the input layer through delays. The results from this study have validated the proposed low-cost ANN model for the predictions of dynamic responses of wing structures due to atmospheric turbulence. The accuracy of the predicted results by the ANN was discussed. The paper indicated that predictions for the bending moments are more accurate than those for the torsional moments of the wing structure. © The Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences.