Analysis of Aircraft With Hinged Wingtips Based on Multi-Body Dynamics and Unsteady Aerodynamic Models

The aerodynamic efficiency of an aircraft can be enhanced by increasing wing aspect ratio. However, structural constraints and airport compatibility regulations limit feasible wing sizes, motivating the development of concepts that mitigate the drawbacks of high–aspect-ratio wings. Within this context, the semi-aeroelastic hinge (SAH) concept has been proposed, enabling in-flight, freely rotating hinged wingtips to improve maneuverability and alleviate dynamic loads. The present study extends the authors’ previous work on the application of the SAH concept to a civil transport aircraft derived from the Boeing 747. In the earlier investigation, the mathematical model combined multibody dynamics with a vortex-lattice aerodynamic formulation, capturing geometric nonlinearities associated with large wingtip rotations. In contrast to that work, the current study incorporates the complete set of aerodynamic coefficients, including aerodynamic moment coefficients, into the aerodynamic model. In addition to this key enhancement, several refinements have been introduced, including updated wingtip geometric dimensions and inertial properties. The effects of structural hinge elastic characteristics and transient dynamic loads across different flight regimes are examined through the time histories of hinge constraint forces and moments. This extended formulation enables a quantitative assessment of the influence of aerodynamic unsteadiness on the dynamic response of aircraft equipped with semi-aeroelastic hinged wingtips.