Modelling and simulation of flight dynamics for a gull-wing

With morphing aircrafts taken as bodies with variable center of mass and inertia tensor, the quasi-rigid body dynamic modelling approach is further developed to achieve decoupling. The additional terms in the nonlinear dynamic model caused by the morphing of gull-wings are expressed analytically by the folding angles and the folding angular rates of the wing sections. The utility and the integrity of the modelling approach are validated by the simulation for a gull-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. With the aerodynamic parameters calculated by the vortex lattice approach, the aerodynamic performances in symmetric and asymmetric morphing processes are evaluated. Dynamic responses and corresponding analysis show that the symmetric wing morphing with fixed throttle and elevator mainly changes the balance point of the aircraft, while asymmetric wing morphing with fixed conventional control inputs largely increases the lateral maneuverability and will lead to an obvious sideslip and roll.