Flight Performance Characteristics of a Tailless Folding Wing Morphing Aircraft

Purpose This paper aims to describe the concept of morphing tailless aircraft with discontinuous skin and its preliminary kinematic solution. Project assumptions, next steps and expected results are briefly presented. Design/methodology/approach Multidisciplinary numerical optimization will be used to determine control allocation for wing segments rotation. Wing demonstrator will be fabricated and tested in wind tunnel. Results will be used in construction of flying model and design of its control system. Flight data of morphing demonstrator and reference aircraft will result in comparative analysis of both technologies. Findings Proposed design combines advantages of wing morphing without complications of wing’s structure elastic deformation. Better performance, stability and maneuverability is expected due to wing’s construction which is entirely composed of unconnected wing segments. Independent control of each segment allows for free modeling of spanwise lift force distribution. Originality/value Nonlinear multipoint distribution of wing twist as the only mechanism for control and flight performance optimization has never been studied or constructed. Planned wind tunnel investigation of such complex aerodynamic structure has not been previously published and will be an original contribution to the development of aviation and in particular to the aerodynamics of wing with discontinuous skin.

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Design and analysis of a linear servo-actuated variable-span morphing wing

INCAS BULLETIN ◽

10.13111/2066-8201.2020.12.4.7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 71-82

Author(s):

Aynul HOSSAIN ◽

Wei WANG ◽

Hailong YUE

Keyword(s):

Technology Development ◽

Shape Change ◽

Current Trend ◽

Flight Performance ◽

Morphing Wing ◽

Sensors And Actuators ◽

Morphing Aircraft ◽

Change Mechanisms ◽

Variable Span ◽

Smart Technologies

Morphing aircraft are multi-role aircraft that change their external shape substantially to adapt to a changing mission environment during flight. Current interest in morphing vehicles has been increased by advances in smart technologies such as materials, sensors and actuators. These advances have led to a series of breakthroughs in a wide variety of disciplines that, when fully realized for aircraft applications, have the potential to produce large improvements in aircraft safety, affordability, and environmental compatibility. Morphing wing designs include rotating, sliding and inflating based on shape change mechanisms. The current trend in technology development shows that there is lots to improve with regards to aircraft size, flying range and flight performance envelope. There should be a balance between shape change and the penalties in cost, complexity and weight. Final performance of the morphing aircraft depends heavily on how such balances in design, manufacture and morphing mechanism can be achieved. This paper was an attempt to design and perform a further analysis of an efficient variable span wing for aircraft and fixed wing UAVs.

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Flight Testing and Response Characteristics of a Variable Gull-Wing Morphing Aircraft

AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit ◽

10.2514/6.2004-5113 ◽

2004 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Mujahid Abdulrahim ◽

Rick Lind

Keyword(s):

Flight Testing ◽

Morphing Aircraft ◽

Response Characteristics ◽

Wing Morphing

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Vibration Frequencies and Modes of a Z-Shaped Beam With Variable Folding Angles

Journal of Vibration and Acoustics ◽

10.1115/1.4033196 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 138 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

W. Zhang ◽

W. H. Hu ◽

D. X. Cao ◽

M. H. Yao

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulations ◽

Mode Shapes ◽

Geometrical Parameters ◽

Morphing Aircraft ◽

Shaped Beam ◽

Out Of Plane ◽

Folding Wing ◽

Fixed Structure ◽

Theoretical Results ◽

Equations Of Motions

In this paper, we investigate the vibration characteristics of a Z-shaped beam with variable folding angles which is used to model a folding wing of a morphing aircraft under the condition of a fixed structure. The governing equations of motions for the Z-shaped beam are formulated. For a specific set of material and geometrical parameters, the first three in-plane and the first two out-of-plane linear frequencies of the Z-shaped beam are theoretically calculated, and validated by the experiments and numerical simulations. Additionally, the theoretical mode shapes at a fixed folding angle are compared to the experimental results and the finite element simulations. The theoretical results agree well with numerical simulations and experiments. The results obtained in this paper are helpful for designing and controlling Z-shaped beam structures, and can also be used as a basis to study the nonlinear dynamics of these structures.

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