Aeroelastic benefits of tow steering for composite plates

The use of tow steered composites, where fibers follow prescribed curvilinear paths within a laminate, can improve upon existing capabilities related to aeroelastic tailoring of wing structures, though this tailoring method has received relatively little attention in the literature. This paper demonstrates the technique for a cantilevered flat plate in low-speed flow. A genetic algorithm is used to locate the Pareto front between static aeroelastic stresses and dynamic flutter boundaries. The impact of various tailoring choices upon the aeroelastic performance is quantified: curvilinear fiber steering versus straight fiber steering and certifiable versus non-certifiable stacking sequences.