A passive-compliance wrapping-cam load simulator for folding wings via convex profile design and closed-form synthesis

Reproducing the aerodynamic torque during the deployment process is essential for the ground verification of the folding wing actuation system. However, the existing load simulators rely on high-power, high-performance hardware and complex control algorithms to achieve rapid tracking of high-magnitude torque, which makes it difficult to quickly deploy in harsh test environments and adapt to different test objects. We present a passive-compliance wrapping-cam load simulator with simple structure, rapid response, and high load capacity and establish an efficient multi-scenario design methodology for diverse load curves. A convexity-embedded cam-profile parametric model is innovatively established during optimization-based design, which preserves satisfactory profile description ability and markedly improved optimization efficiency. A new closed-form solution for wrapping cam synthesis is developed, along with an efficient and versatile hybrid design workflow for the load simulator. The proposed design method was tested using simulations of several representative load cases and was verified on the prototype test bench. Under the sinusoidal target load, the corresponding load simulator achieved good loading accuracy with a relative error of less than 5% and R²>0.99 at various deployment speeds.