Correction method of airfoil thickness effect in hinge moment calculation of a folding wing

Abstract The influences of airfoil thickness on the aerodynamic loading distribution and the hinge moments of folding wing aircraft are presented in this work. The traditional panel method shows deficiencies in the calculation of folding wing’s hinge moments. Thus, a thickness correction strategy for the aerodynamic model with CFD results is proposed, and an aeroelastic flight simulation platform is constructed based on the secondary development of ADAMS. Based on the platform, the developed aerodynamic model is verified, then the flight-folding process of the folding wing aircraft is simulated, and the influences of airfoil thickness on the results are investigated. Results show that the developed aerodynamic model can effectively describe the thickness effect of the folding wing. Airfoil thickness, which cannot be considered by the panel method, has a great influence on the hinge moments during the folding process, and the thickness correction has great significance in the calculation of folding wing’s hinge moments.