Aerostructural Comparative Study of Composite Strut- and Truss-Braced Wing Configurations

As the aviation industry seeks significant improvements in aerodynamic efficiency and emission reduction, ultrahigh-aspect-ratio wings have emerged as a promising solution for future transport aircraft. This study investigates the aerostructural performance of three configurations, that is, a conventional cantilever wing, a strut-braced wing (SBW), and a truss-braced wing (TBW), by employing both aluminum and carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) structures. A midfidelity aerostructural analysis framework is developed, coupling a vortex lattice aerodynamic solver with a geometrically nonlinear Timoshenko beam model. Results indicate that, at a wing aspect ratio of 28, the SBW configuration with CFRP achieves a total wing mass below 6000 kg, as compared to nearly 10,000 kg for its aluminum concept. In the TBW configuration, CFRP leads to a smoother spanwise load distribution and an overall structural mass reduction of over 30%. The sensitivity study shows that increasing the aspect ratio and taper ratio leads to nonlinear mass growth in aluminum wings, whereas the CFRP configuration exhibits a more gradual increase and greater responsiveness to strut placement optimization. This study demonstrates the synergistic benefits of composite materials and braced-wing architectures for achieving lightweight, structurally efficient designs, and it offers a validated methodology suitable for early-stage conceptual evaluation of next-generation high-performance aircraft.