L. Dehmlow, P.J. González, G. Stavorinus, A.A. García Quesada, F.J. Silvestre

Increasing the wingspan and thereby the aspect ratio while introducing a folding wingtip is a way of reducing the aircraft induced drag while meeting airport gate limitations. By rotating the hinge axis outboard and making the hinge flexible, the folding wingtip could also be used to reduce gust and manoeuvre loads. Considering the flexibility is another important factor as aircraft are becoming more flexible and therefore a possible coupling between folding wingtip, rigid body and aeroelastic dynamic modes can be expected. In the following, a set of equations of motion describing a free-flying flexible aircraft with flared folding wingtips, that considers follower forces of the lifting surfaces as well as the geometric exact angle of attack is derived using Lagrange’s equation. Thereby the folding wingtips are treated as separate bodies. The formulation is used to set up a numerical model in Matlab/Simulink. The model is tested on the TU-Flex aircraft with hinges introduced at 80% span and compared to the original TU-Flex aircraft. It can be shown that the folding wingtips dynamics have an important influence on the aeroelastic as well as flight mechanics stability of the system. Also, the importance of considering the flexibility of the aircraft when calculating the angle of attack at the folding wingtip is shown.

Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2024, Hamburg

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn, 2025

Conference Paper

englisch

21,0 x 29,7 cm, 12 Seiten

urn:nbn:de:101:1-2501101413027.869653476713

10.25967/630376

Flight dynamics, high aspect-ratio aircraft, folding wingtips

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Dehmlow, L.; González, P.J.; et al. (2025): Aircraft with Folding Wingtips Dynamics Model Based on Lagrange`s Method. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V.. (Text). https://doi.org/10.25967/630376. urn:nbn:de:101:1-2501101413027.869653476713.

10.01.2025