Mathematical model of one flexible transport category aircraft

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a mathematical model of one very flexible transport category airplane whose structural dynamics was modeled with the strain-based formulation. This model can be used for the analysis of couplings between the flight dynamics and structural dynamics. Design/methodology/approach - The model was developed with the use of Hamiltonian mechanics and strain-based formulation. Nonlinear flight dynamics, nonlinear structural dynamics and inertial couplings are considered. Findings - The mathematical model allows the analysis of effects of high structural deformations on airplane flight dynamics. Research limitations/implications - The mathematical model has more than 60 degrees of freedom. The computational burden is too high, if compared to the traditional rigid body flight dynamics simulations. Practical implications - The mathematical model presented in this work allows a detailed analysis of the couplings between flight dynamics and structural dynamics in very flexible airplanes. The better comprehension of these couplings will contribute to the development of flexible airplanes. Originality/value - This work presents the application of nonlinear flight dynamics-nonlinear structural dynamics-strain-based formulation (NFNS_s) methodology to model the flight dynamics of one very flexible transport category airplane. This paper addresses also the way as the analysis of results obtained in nonlinear simulations can be made. Comparisons of the NFNS_s and nonlinear flight dynamics-linear structural dynamics methodologies are presented in this work.