A large aspect ratio aircraft with flared folding winglets increases the lift-to-drag ratio and achieves load alleviation during gust encounters. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of key flared folding winglet parameters on the aeroelastic characteristics of aircraft and optimize the design to minimize structural weight while maintaining flutter speed and gust load alleviation performance.
The study investigates design variables including hinge stiffness, flare angle, outer radius and wall thickness of the winglet’s main beams. Aeroelastic optimization is conducted to achieve weight reduction, with constraints on flutter speed and gust load alleviation. The relationships between winglet parameters and aeroelastic performance are examined.
Reducing the winglet mass increases the flutter speed and maximum wing root stress. Reducing the flare angle increases the flutter speed at low hinge stiffnesses, while increasing the flare angle improves the flutter speed and reduces the maximum wing root stress at high hinge stiffnesses. The optimized aircraft’s flutter speed decreases by 1 m/s, showing only a slight change from the baseline model. The mass is reduced by 1.472 kg, representing an 18.04% reduction compared to the baseline model.
This study provides insights into the trade-offs between structural weight, flutter speed and gust load alleviation in flared folding winglets. The findings contribute to the design optimization of high-performance, lightweight aircraft configurations with enhanced aeroelastic stability and load management.
