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Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (14): 231026.doi: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.31026

• Solid Mechanics and Vehicle Conceptual Design • Previous Articles    

Coordinated maneuverability analysis of wingtip-docking compound aircraft in multiple flight configurations

Entong ZHU1,2, Zhou ZHOU1,2, Rui WANG1,2(), Han WANG1,2, Guichen WANG1,2   

  1. 1.School of Aeronautics,Northwestern Polytechnical University,Xi’an 710072,China
    2.National Key Laboratory of Basic Layout of Aerospace Vehicles,Xi’an 710072,China
  • Received:2024-08-02 Revised:2024-09-20 Accepted:2025-01-10 Online:2025-02-06 Published:2025-02-06
  • Contact: Rui WANG E-mail:wangrui@nwpu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shannxi(2023-JC-YB-010)

Abstract:

To study the coordinated maneuverability of the wingtip-docking compound aircraft, this paper explores the changes in maneuverability from the perspectives of unit aircraft connection number and configuration. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is used to establish an aerodynamic database for the compound aircraft. This data is then employed to develop a dynamic model of the wingtip-hinged chain-like combined aircraft, based on a quasi-coordinate form of the Lagrange multi-body dynamics. The control inputs required for trimming in various configurations have been calculated. Next, the concept of an attitude equivalent body is proposed and its reasonableness as a reference standard for maneuverability explained. Finally, an optimization problem is constructed to evaluate the maximum attainable equivalent acceleration in the longitudinal, lateral, and yaw axes for combinations consisting of 2/3/4/5 unit aircraft in three configurations. The study identifies characteristic changes, explains the reasons, and provides a theoretical basis for configuration selection and control law design.

Key words: flight mechanics, compound aircraft, maneuverability, reconfigurable aircraft, reachable set, optimization

CLC Number: