Stress and Vibration Analysis of an F-16 Fighting Falcon Wing

Kevin Escapule Fauad Ali Shoukat Derek Kramer

Analysis of an F-16 Wing using ANSYS 5.7

Maximum and minimum stress was calculated on the wing for three cases. (free wing, wing loaded by fuel tank, and wing fully-loaded by armaments and fuel tank). Vibration was also measured on the wing for each version such as the no-load wing, the fuel tank-loaded wing, and the fullyloaded wing.

Loads applied on the wing.

1. 2. 3. 4. Following are the loads applied on the wing. Sidewinder (AIM-9) AMRAAM (AIM-120) MAVERICK (AGM-65) 370 gal external fuel tank.

Sidewinder (AIM-9)
The AIM-9 was loaded on the wing tip. The weight of the AIM-9 was 200 lbs.

AMRAAM (AIM-120)
The AIM-120 was positioned 23.21 inches from the wingtip next to the AIM-9. The weight of the AMRAAM AIM-120 was found as 335 lbs.

MAVERICK(AGM-65)
The AGM-65 was placed at 48.75 inches from the wingtip. There was a cluster of three AGM-65s used, so the total weight was calculated as 1392 lbs each missile being 464 lbs.

External Fuel Tank

A 370-gallon external fuel tank was introduced at the position of 97.5 inches from the wingtip. An external fuel tank with a weight of fuel of 1850 lbs was measured as a total of 2400 lbs.

Dimensions of wing of F-16

The wing of the F-16 was 130 inches long, 100 inches wide with the angle of sweep of 400 at the leading edge. The wing tip length was 25 inches. The wing had a thickness to chord ratio of 4%. The thickness was then 4 inches.

Model of wing in ANSYS

Solid 92 was used as an element type. The wing was free meshed volume. The pressure on the top of the wing was 1.85 psi and 3.75 psi was on the bottom of the wing.

Stress on the wing of F-16.

The maximum and minimum stress was calculated on the wing with no loads, with a fuel tank, and with fuel tank and armaments. Two views were used to measure the stresses, which are the isometric view and the front view.

Isometric view of stress on wing. (No Loads)

This is the isometric view of stress on wing with no loads on it. The minimum stress was found at the wing tip of 2.174 psi, and the maximum stress was found at wing root as 5580 psi.

Front view of stress on wing

The front view of stress on wing with no loads gives us the better picture of how the stress is distributed across the wing. As we go towards the wingtip the stress decreases to minimum stress.

Isometric view of stress on wing. (370-gal fuel tank)

This isometric view of stress on wing with external fuel tank gave us the minimum stress of 2.119 psi, which was found at the wingtip, and the maximum stress of 4888 psi at wing root, which was shown by the red area.

Front view of stress on wing

This is the front view of distribution of stress on the wing. It was noted that in the position that the external fuel tank was placed, the wing had the maximum average stress which is shown by the yellow and orange areas.

Isometric view of stress on fully loaded wing. (fuel tank + armaments)

The isometric view of stress on the fully loaded (fuel tank and armaments) wing gives us the minimum stress of 1.287 psi at the wingtip, and the maximum stress was found at the wing root as 3709 psi.

Front view of stress on wing

This front view of stress distribution across this fully loaded wing shows us that the stress is higher at the position where the MAVERICK and FUEL TANK (total=3792 lbs) were placed. However, at the wingtip the stress is minimum where the sidewinder of only 200lb was placed.

Vibration on the wing of an F-16

The videos of vibration on wing with no loads, with fuel tank, and fully loaded (fuel tank + armaments) were recorded. The frequency of (0-1000)Hz was used to calculate the vibration. No natural frequency of over 6 Hertz was observed on any of the three wing versions.

Vibration on wing. (No Load)

This animation gives us the vibration on the no-load wing.

Vibration on wing.(Fuel tank)

This animation gives us the vibration on the wing with the 370gallon of external fuel tank.

Vibration on fully loaded wing. (Fuel tank + Armaments)

This animation gives us the vibration on the fully loaded wing (370-gallon fuel tank and armaments).

Conclusion
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