Flare folding wing tips for static and gust loads alleviation

Abstract

The Passive gust load alleviation device can effectively simplify the control system by relying on the adaptive deformation of the structure. This research examines the influence of using folding wingtips during flight as a means of reducing static loads and gusty loads. Effects of hinge direction, wing-tip weight, stiffness and wing-tip centre of gravity on static and gust alleviation performance has been examined. The results show that the flare folding wing-tip can significantly reduce the static load and gust load of the aircraft. In a static aeroelastic trim analysis, a folding wingtip can increase span by 25% without increasing the wing root bending moment and decrease the trim angle of attack by 0.14°. In the gust response analysis, the maximum bending moment of wing root can be decrease by nearly 50% compared with the fixed wing-tip, only 17% higher than the baseline model without a wing-tip.