Aerodynamic performance analysis of different damaged types of a turboprop wing

Abstract Wingtiploss and bullet impact are potential hazards faced by existing transport aircraft, posing a serious threat to flight safety. These damages create asymmetric rolling moments that lead to aircraft instability and aerodynamic degradation. The purpose of this study is to assess whether aerodynamic degradation under more realistic damage scenarios could cause imbalance in transport aircraft. Based on computational fluid dynamics methods, this paper compares the aerodynamic characteristics of wings and tailplanes subjected to two types of damage, regular sawtooth cutting and bullet impacts, against undamaged models at varying levels of severity. The results indicate that sawtooth damage enhances local vortices to some extent, delaying stall and having a positive effect, but also increases induced drag, thus affecting the overall lift-to-drag ratio. Bullet damage exhibits different impact characteristics at different wing span positions, with damage to the middle section showing the most significant reduction in lift.