Approximate global mode method for flutter analysis of folding wings

The aircraft with folding wings benefits from the ability to transform its folding wings to adapt to various flight missions but suffers from the change of the wings' aeroelastic characteristics as a result. To clarify the change, it is necessary to study the dynamical modeling of the folding wing and also its aeroelastic response. This paper proposes a novel approximate global mode method (AGMM) for dealing with complex boundary conditions and models a folding wing consisting of separate rectangular plates for nonlinear flutter analysis. A high-precision low-dimensional dynamical model of the folding wing is developed, which is first validated by comparing the modal results obtained from the AGMM model with those obtained from an equivalent finite element model and is also experimentally validated by a comparison of forced vibration responses. On this basis, an AGMM model of the folding wing in supersonic aerodynamic loads based on the piston theory is further developed. The critical flutter velocity at different folding angles and the aeroelastic response are comprehensively studied by simulations based on the model. The result shows that the first 7th-order modes are sufficient for obtaining a converged critical flutter velocity, which varies with geometric parameters and potentially increases by 714 %. In addition, the low-order torsional modes of the wing contribute more to the vibration than the other modes during flutter. This work provides a new way of developing advanced dynamical modeling methods of folding and combinational structures for their dynamics design, optimization, and system control.