A framework to model and analyze the coupled nonlinear aeroelasticity and flight dynamics of highly flexible aircrafts is presented. The methodology is based on the dynamics of 3D co-rotational beams. The coupling of axial, bending and torsional effects is added to the stiffness and mass matrices of Euler−Bernoulli beam to capture the most relevant characteristics of a real wing structure. The finite-state aerodynamic model is coupled with the structural model to simulate the unsteady aerodynamics. A scheme of mixed end-point and mid-point time-marching algorithms is proposed and applied into the implicit predictor−corrector integration, where the end-point algorithm is used in the predictor step for efficiency and mid-point algorithm in corrector step for accuracy. The ground, body and airflow axes for flight dynamics are re-defined by the global and elemental ones for structural dynamics, followed by the redefinitions of local Euler angles and airflow angles of each element. The framework can be used for quick analyses of flexible aircrafts in conceptual and preliminary design phases, including linear and nonlinear trim, aerodynamic load estimation, stability assessment, time-domain simulations and flight performance evaluations. The results show the payload mass and its distributions will significantly affect the trim state and longitudinal stability of highly flexible aircrafts.
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