In this paper, wing airfoils are considered flexible in their camber direction. This allows for the modeling and analysis of compliant wings with the camber deformation. In doing so, the camber deformation of flexible airfoils is represented by the Ritz approximation functions at each cross-section, which are referred as finite-section modes, and the corresponding magnitudes of the modes. This simplification of the airfoil deformation may naturally modeled by the finite-state inflow theory, which calculates the unsteady aerodynamic loads of deformable airfoils. The aerodynamic formulation is then coupled with a strain-based geometrically-nonlinear beam formulation and rigid-body flight dynamic equations. This completes the required theoretical formulation for the modeling and analysis of the dynamic aeroelastic response of highly flexible aircraft with wing camber deformations. In this current study, camber deformations (magnitudes of the finite-section modes) are treated as actuations/control inputs to the system. Specifically, anti-symmetric camber actuations are applied to the slender wings of a highly flexible vehicle. The resulting dynamic response of the vehicle is analyzed and compared to a maneuver using traditional ailerons. The time simulations have demonstrated that the camber actuation may bring some unique behaviors to the highly flexible aircraft, which should be taken into account in the future control studies.
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