Selected Publications

Journal Papers

2023

[J18] Varakini Sanmugadas, Jitish Miglani, Zhao, W., Siddhant Desai, Joseph A. Schetz, and Rakesh K. Kapania,  "Development of a Low-cost Flutter Test Bed with EPS Foam Model for Preliminary Wing Design," Aerospace Science and Technology, 2023 (under review)

[J17] Josh Melvin and Zhao, W. "A Jacobi-Ritz Approach for Aeroelastic Analysis of Swept Distributed Propulsion Aircraft Wing," ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, 2023 (under review)

[J16] Borwankar, P., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K. and Bansal, M., “Optimization of hybrid composite laminates with distinct ply thicknesses using integer programming ,” AIAA Journal, 2023, DOI: 10.2514/1.J062488

[J15] Zhao, W., Seo, J. and Kapania, R. K., "Comparative Study of Skin–Stringer Connection Approaches for Stiffened Structures with Curvilinear Stiffeners," AIAA Journal, 2023, DOI: 10.2514/1.J062923

2022

[J14] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “Buckling Analysis and Optimization of Stiffened Variable Angle Tow Laminates with A Cut-out Considering Manufacturing Constraints,” Journal of Composite Science, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 80, 2022, DOI: 10.3390/jcs6030080

[J13]  Borwankar, P., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K. and Bansal, M., “Two-level Weight Optimization of Composite Laminates using Integer Programming,” AIAA Journal, 2022, DOI: 10.2514/1.J061560 

2021

[J12]  Singh, K., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K., “An Optimization Framework for Curvilinearly Stiffened Composite Pressure Vessels and Pipes,” Advances in Computational Design, An International Journal, Vol. 6, No.1, 2021, DOI: 10.12989/acd.2021.6.1.15

[J11] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K. “Skin-Stringers Assembly using Radial Basis Functions for Curvilinearly Stiffened Panels,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 59, No. 3, pp. 1125-1133, 2021, DOI: 10.2514/1.J059364

2020

[J10] Gupta, R., Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “Controllability Gramian as the Control Design Objective in Aircraft MDAO using Curvilinear Spars and Ribs,” AIAA Journal, 2020, DOI: 10.2514/1.J059102

[J9] Zhao, W.  and Kapania, R. K.,  "Actuator Energy and Drag Minimizations of Blended-Wing-Body with Variable Camber Continuous Trailing-edge Flaps'', Engineering Optimization, Vol. 52, No. 9, pp. 1561-1587, 2020,  DOI:10.1080/0305215X.2019.1660776 [preprint][code][PDF]

2019

[J8] Zhao, W., Gupta, A., Miglani, J., Regan, C. D., Kapania, R. K. and Seiler, P. J.,  "Component Data Assisted Finite Element Model Updating of Composite Flying-wing Aircraft using Multi-level Optimization,''  Aerospace Science and Technology,  2019, DOI: 10.1016/j.ast.2019.105486

[J7] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K.,  "Bilevel Programming Optimization of Composite Flying-wing with Curvilinear Spars and Ribs,'' AIAA Journal, Vol. 57, No. 6, pp.2594–2608, 2019, DOI: 10.2514/1.J057892 [preprint][code][PDF]

[J6] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K.,  "Prestressed Vibration of Stiffened Variable Angle Tow Laminated Plate,''  AIAA Journal, Vol. 57, No. 6, pp.2575–2593, 2019, DOI: 10.2514/1.J057719 [preprint][code][PDF]

2018

[J5] Zhao,W., Singh, K. A, and Kapania, R. K., "Thermal Buckling Analysis and Optimization of Curvilinearly Stiffened Plates with Variable Angle Tow Laminates," AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets , DOI: 10.2514/1.A34378, 2018 [preprint][code][PDF]

[J4] Singh, K., Zhao, W. , Jrad, M. and Kapania, R. K., "Hybrid Optimization of Curvilinearly Stiffened Shells using Parallel Processing, ''  AIAA Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 56, No. 3, pp. 1068–1079, 2018, DOI:10.2514/1.C035069 [preprint][code][PDF]

2017

[J3] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K.  "Vibrational Analysis of Curvilinearly Stiffened Composite Panels Subjected to In-plane Loads'' AIAA Journal, Vol. 55, No. 3,  pp. 981-997, 2017, DOI: 10.2514/1.J055047 [preprint][code][PDF]

2016

[J2] Sheets, K., Wang, J.,  Zhao,W., Kapania, R. K. and Nain, A. S., "Nanonet Force Microscopy for Measuring Cell Forces,'' Biophysical Journal , Vol. 111, No. 1, 2016, pp. 197-207,[preprint][code][PDF]

[J1] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K.  "Buckling Analysis of Unitized Curvilinearly Stiffened Composite Panels, '' Composite Structures, Vol. 135, 2016, pp. 365-382,  DOI:10.1016/j.compstruct.2015.09.041 [preprint][code][PDF]

Conference Proceedings

2024

[C35] Adam F Leicht, Mohammed Abir Mahdi, Kathleen McNamara, Hadi Noori, Wei Zhao, "Design, Manufacturing, and Experiments of Additive Manufactured Stiffened Thin-walled Plates," AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, Orlando FL, January 8-12, 2024, DOI: 10.2514/6.2024-2077

[C34] Mohammed Abir Mahdi, Soumik Dutta, Wei Zhao, "Stiffness Tailoring for Improved Bending and Buckling of Variable Angle Tow Composite Sandwich Panels," AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, Orlando FL, January 8-12, 2024, DOI: 10.2514/6.2024-0549

2023

[C33] Fatemeh Hashemian, Zhao, W. and Yi Wang, "A Reduced Order Model for Static and Buckling Analysis of Thin-Walled Stiffened Plate on a Non-Conformal Mesh ", ASME 2023 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2023), New Orleans, LA, October 29 — November 2, 2023 (To be appeared)

[C32] Josh Melvin and Wei Zhao, "A Jacobi-Ritz Approach for Flutter Analysis of Swept Distributed Propulsion Aircraft Wing," Proceedings of the ASME 2023 Aerospace Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference SSDM2023, June 19-21, 2023, San Diego, California, SSDM 2023-106970, DOI: SSDM2023/87141/1169210

[C31] Zhao, W. and  Mohammed Abir Mahdi, “Buckling Load Maximization of Stiffened Plates using Level Set Topology Optimization and Inverse Isoparametric Mapping Algorithm,” AIAA Aviation 2023 Forum, San Diego, CA  & Online, June 12-16, 2023 DOI: 10.2514/6.2023-4380

[C30] Zhao, W., Seo, J. and Kapania, R. K., “Comparison of Various Skin-Stringer Connection Approaches for Stiffened Structures with Curvilinear Stiffeners,” AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum, National Harbor, MD & Online, 2023, AIAA 2023-1522, DOI: 10.2514/6.2023-1522

[C29] Agarwal, M., Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “Ritz Method Using Orthogonal Jacobi Polynomials for Buckling Analysis of Curvilinearly Stiffened Functionally Graded Plate ,” AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum, National Harbor, MD & Online, 2023, AIAA 2023-1523, DOI: 10.2514/6.2023-1523

[C28] Miglani, J., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K., Panwar, S. S. and Gupta, R., “Theoretical and Experimental Analyses of Inflatable Structures,”AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum, National Harbor, MD & Online, 2023, AIAA 2023-0385, DOI: 10.2514/6.2023-0385

2022

[C27] Zhao, W., Harrach, M., Kapania, R. K., Acar, P., "Thermo-Mechanical Analysis of Residual Stresses and Distortions of Models Fabricated Using Additive Manufacturing," AIAA SciTech forum 2022, San Diego & Virtual, AIAA 2022-1631, DOI: 10.2514/6.2022-1631

[C26] Panwar, S.S., Gupta, R., Aris, A., Nam, T., Miglani, J., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K., "3D-Photogrammetric Modal Testing and Data Analysis of a Cantilevered Inflatable Wing," AIAA SciTech forum 2022, San Diego & Virtual, AIAA 2022-1513, DOI: 10.2514/6.2022-1513

2021

[C25] Miglani, J., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K., Panwar, S., Gupta, R. and Aris, A., "System Identification for Modal and Flutter Analysis of an Inflatable Wing, " 13th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, Standford, CA, 2021

[C24] Sanmugadas, V., Gupta, R., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. and Schmidt, D., “Effect of Aeroelastic Tailoring of Composite Wing Skin Laminates on Controllability of Aircraft,” 2021 AIAA AVIATION Forum, Virtual Event, AIAA 2021-3084, DOI:10.2514/6.2021-3084

[C23] Zhao, W., Miglani, J., Desai, S., Kapania, R. K., Schetz, J. A., Aris, A. and Panwar, S. S., “Structural and Aeroelastic Design, Analysis, and Experiments of Inflatable Airborne Wings,” AIAA SciTech 2021, January, 2021, Virtual Event, AIAA 2021-1817, DOI:10.2514/6.2021-1817

[C22] Miglani, J., Zhao, W., Sanmugadas, V., Desai, S., Schetz, J. A. and Kapania, R. K., “Design and Experiments of Aluminum Flat Plate and Expanded Polystyrene Foam Airfoil Flutter Test Articles,” AIAA SciTech 2021, January, 2021, Virtual Event, AIAA 2021-14977, DOI:10.2514/6.2021-1497

[C21]  Borwankar, P., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K. and Bansal, M. “Two-level Weight Optimization of Composite Laminates using Integer Programming,” AIAA SciTech 2021, January, 2021, Virtual Event, AIAA 2021-1966, DOI:10.2514/6.2021-1966

2020

[C20] Zhao, W.,  Gupta, R., Kapania, R. K. and Schmidt, D. K., "Fuel Weight Minimization for Large N+3 Composite Transports with Multiple Control Surfaces ," 2020 AIAA SciTech Forum , Jan 07-10, 2020, AIAA 2020-0663, DOI: 10.2514/6.2020-0663

[C19] Gupta, R., Zhao, W.,  Kapania, R. K. and Schmidt, D. K., "Incorporating Flight Dynamics and Control Criteria into MDAO of Composite Aircraft," 2020 AIAA SciTech Forum , Jan 07-10, 2020,  AIAA 2020-1966,  DOI: 10.2514/6.2020-1966

2019

[C18] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “Buckling Analysis and Optimization of Stiffened Varying-Angle-Tow Laminates with Manufacturing Constraints,” Proceedings of the American Society for Composites Thirty-fourth (34th) Technical Conference, GA, Sept., 2019, DOI: 10.12783/asc34/31329 

[C17] Gupta, R., Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., "Investigation of Controllability Gramian as Control Objective in MDAO Framework," AIAA Aviation 2019, June 17-21, Dallas, TX, 2019, AIAA 2019-3550, DOI: 10.2514/6.2019-3550 

[C16] Deshpande, R., Zhao, W., Jrad, M., and Kapania, R. K., "Effect of Centrifugal Stiffening on the Natural Frequencies of a Flexible Drone in Roll Maneuvers," AIAA SciTech 2019, Jan 7-11, 2019, San Diego, CA, AIAA 2019-0761, DOI: 10.2514/6.2019-0761 

[C15] Zhao, W., Gupta, A., Miglani, J., Regan, D. C., Kapania, R. K., and Seiler, P. J.,  "Finite Element Model Updating of Composite Flying-wing Aircraft using Global/Local Optimization," AIAA Atmosphere Flight Mechanics Conference, AIAA SciTech 2019, Jan 7-11, 2019, San Diego, CA, AIAA 2019-1814, DOI: 10.2514/6.2019-1814 (Invited paper)

2018

[C14] Zhao, W.,  Singh, K. and Kapania, R. K.,  "Thermal-mechanical Buckling of Curvilinearly Stiffened Variable Angle Tow Laminated Panels,'' AIAA Space Forum 2018,  Sept 17-19, 2018, Orlando, FL, AIAA 2018-5165, DOI: 10.2514/6.2018-5165 

[C13] Jrad, M., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K. and Schmidt, D. K., "Elastic Axis Determination and Extraction of Vibration Mode Shapes of a Light Weight Composite Aircraft, '' Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference,  AIAA Aviation 2018, June, 2018, AIAA 2018-5165,  DOI: 10.2514/6.2018-3429

[C12] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “Multiobjective Optimization of Composite Flying-wings with SpaRibs and Multiple Control Surfaces,” 2018 Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference, 2018 AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition, 2018, Atlanta, Georgia, AIAA 2018-3434, DOI: 10.2514/6.2018-3424

[C11] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “BLP Optimization of Composite Flying-wing with SpaRibs and Multiple Control Surfaces,” 2018 AIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, AIAA SciTech Forum, Kissimmee, Florida, AIAA 2018-2150, 2018, DOI: 10.2514/6.2018-2150

2017

[C10] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K.,  "Static Aeroelastic Optimization of Aircraft Wings with Multiple Surfaces,'' 18th AIAA/ISSMO Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference, AIAA Aviation Forum, Denver, Colorado, June, 2017, AIAA 2017-4320, DOI: 10.2514/6.2017-4320

[C9] Zhao, W., Jrad, M., Gupta, R. and Kapania, R. K., “Multidisciplinary Design, Analysis and Optimization of Performance Adaptive Aeroelastic Wings,” AIAA Atmosphere Flight Mechanics Conference, AIAA SciTech, Grapevine, TX, 2017, AIAA 2017-1392, DOI: 10.2514/6.2017-1392 (This work on mAEWing2 design has been featured in AIAA Aerospace America 2017 Year in Review)

[C8] Singh, K., Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K., “An Optimization Framework for Curvilinearly Stiffened Composite Pressure Vessels and Pipes,” Proceedings of ASME 2017 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA, 2017, DOI: 10.1115/PVP2017-65469

[C7] Zhao, W., Muthirevula, N., Kapania, R. K., Gupta, A., Regan, D. C. and Seiler, P. J., “A Subcomponent-based Finite Element Model Updating for a Composite Flying-wing Aircraft,” AIAA Atmosphere Flight Mechanics Conference, AIAA SciTech, Grapevine, TX, 2017, AIAA-2017-1393, DOI: 10.2514/6.2017-1393

[C6] Singh, K., Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “Optimal Design of Curvilinearly Stiffened Shells,” 58th AIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, Grapevine, TX, 2017, AIAA 2017-1830, DOI: 10.2514/6.2017-1830

[C5] Gupta, A., Zhao, W., Regan, C. D., Seiler, P., and Kapania, R. K., Identification of Symmetrical Structureswith Fabrication and Damage Induced Asymmetry. In: Conte J., Astroza R., Benzoni G., Feltrin G., LohK., Moaveni B. (eds) Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Structures. EVACES 2017, pp. 683–693, Vol. 5. Springer, Cham

2016

[C4] Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “Vibrational Analysis of Unitized Curvilinearly Stiffened Composite Panels Subjected to In-plane Loads,” 57th AIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, 2016, AIAA 2016-1500, DOI: 10.2514/6.2016-1500

[C3] Schmidt, D., Zhao, W. and Kapania, R. K., “Flight-Dynamics and Flutter Analyses of a Flying-Wing Research Drone – Invited,” AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, AIAA SciTech 2016, San Diego, CA, AIAA 2016-1748, DOI: 10.2514/6.2016-1748 (Invited paper)

2015

[C2] Zhao, W., Kapania, R. K., Schetz, J. A., Coggin, J. M., Allen, T. J. and Sexton, B. W. “Nonlinear Aeroelastic Analysis of SUGAR Truss-braced Wing Wind-tunnel Model Under In-plane Loads,” 56th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/SC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference. AIAA SciTech,2015, Kissimmee, Florida, AIAA 2015-1173, DOI: 10.2514/6.2015-1173

2014

[C1] Coggin, J. M., Kapania, R. K., Zhao, W., Schetz, J. A. and Hodigere-Siddaramaiah, V. “Nonlinear Aeroelastic Analysis of a Truss Braced Wing Wind Tunnel Model,” AIAA SciTech 2014, 55th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/SC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, National Harbor, Maryland, AIAA 2014-0335, DOI: 10.2514/6.2014-0335