Minimization of wing deformation in trimmed flight of highly flexible aircraft using multiple control surfaces

A methodology is presented for performing trim optimization in highly flexible aircraft configurations by incorporating redundant, multiple control surfaces positioned on the trailing and leading edge of the wing, in order to minimize wing deflection. It employs the simplex linear programming algorithm, and compares three different control surface configurations. The beneficial results from using multiple redundant surfaces are evident. It allows for an increase of the maximum load factor and, equivalently, a decrease of the minimum dynamic pressure in a trimmed flight, while maintaining a low wing deformation.