Complete morphing wing design using flexible-rib system
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Complete morphing wing design using flexible-rib system S. A. Meguid . Yu Su . Yue Wang
Received: 24 August 2015 / Accepted: 21 September 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
Abstract This study is concerned with the complete design, analysis, functional prototyping and flight testing of a novel morphing wing system for use in a relatively small (\10 kg) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). To achieve improved flight performance with limited weight penalty, camber-adjustable morphing wing was designed using flexible servomotor-actuated mechanisms. The current design, which was originally conceptualized by Monner et al. (Smart structures and materials: industrial and commercial applications of smart structures technologies. Proceedings of SPIE 3326, pp 60–70, 1998), ensures that the airfoil shape of the wing is able to continuously morph between the non-cambered and the cambered configurations. The morphing function of the wing is achieved using a flexible-rib system driven by onboard servomotorrocker. This unique design of a flexible-rib assembly enables the airfoil of the wing to be accurately morphed to the target configuration. With the aid of aerodynamic and finite element analyses, the flexible rib assembly performance and structural integrity are evaluated and assessed. The design process was in compliance with aircraft design standards, including the Federal Aviation Regulations—Part 23. The functional prototype of the flexible rib morphing-
S. A. Meguid (&) Y. Su Y. Wang Mechanics and Aerospace Design Laboratory, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, Canada e-mail: [email protected]
wing enabled UAV was manufactured and assembled and a test plane was ground tested. The success of the entire project, including flight testing of the flexible rib assembly is summarized in this paper. Keywords Morphing wing Flexible rib Unmanned aerial vehicle Aerodynamics Finite element analysis Structural integrity Camber adjustment Functional prototype Flight test
1 Introduction Shape morphing is an aircraft design solution intended to meet the demand of varied flying missions typically desired in unmanned aerial vehicles. Indeed, the demands of frequent transformation among multiple flying patterns lead to the exploitation of the morphing wing concept. The shape-morphing capability of aircraft enables continuous geometric changes to enhance or adapt to various mission profiles (Sofla et al. 2010; Seigler et al. 2007). Although an unmorphed aircraft may be designed to perform well in some given flight regimes, shape morphing would enable an aircraft to encompass a larger range of flight performance (Seigler et al. 2007). Shape morphing of aircraft typically employs a highly flexible wing system that can be actuated to timely adjust its configuration to attain substantially improved flight performance. In comparison with standard wing designs, the advantages of morphing wing are
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numerous. It can help optimize the lift-to-drag ratio
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