Characteristics of deploying longitudinal folding wings with compound actuation

Abstract

A mechanism has been developed to achieve rapid deployment of longitudinally folding wings by utilizing compound actuation from the firing powder and the compressive spring. A theoretical model based on rigid-body dynamics was first proposed to study the deployment characteristics of longitudinal folding wings under compound-driven effects. Subsequently, deployment experiments were conducted using a prototype to validate the theoretical model. It was observed that the folding wings are deployed in 11 ms. Further parametric analysis indicates that the mass of both the propellant and the locking rod has a positive effect on the deploying velocity. However, the angular moment of inertia of folding wings has a negative effect on the initial angular velocity. This work can be helpful for designing the folding wing structures of missiles and aircrafts.