TY - GEN
T1 - Aerodynamic performance of corrugated skins for spanwise wing morphing
AU - Fincham, James H.S.
AU - Ajaj, Rafic M.
AU - Friswell, Michael I.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Aircraft designed to fly a wide mission range will have their design compromised so that they can meet all mission requirements. There has been continued interest in morphing aircraft in recent years. These proposed morphing systems allow for aircraft to undergo large-scale planform shape changes, such that they adopt the optimum shape for the given mission phase. An aircraft that can change wingspan could operate with high aerodynamic efficiency at cruise, due to a large aspect ratio wing. Upon retraction of the wingspan, higher manoeuverability is gained. For a span-changing aircraft, the wing skins must also change geometry with the span change. One proposed type of skin to do this is a corrugated skin, which displays high anisotropy in stifiness, allowing it to take significant aerodynamic pressure loading, whilst being compliant in the spanwise direction to allow for wing morphing. The method of corrugation used produces sharp leading edges, and so different methods for rounding of the leading edge are examined to determine whether lost aerodynamic performance can be recovered. These are analysed first in 2D, and then the simulations are extended to 3D to determine the effects of corrugation wavelength in the spanwise direction, and the effect of corrugation depth. It is found that the leading edge profile can greatly impact performance, that corrugation wavelength has only a minimal effect on aerodynamic efficiency, and finally that corrugation depth can incur a significant performance penalty.
AB - Aircraft designed to fly a wide mission range will have their design compromised so that they can meet all mission requirements. There has been continued interest in morphing aircraft in recent years. These proposed morphing systems allow for aircraft to undergo large-scale planform shape changes, such that they adopt the optimum shape for the given mission phase. An aircraft that can change wingspan could operate with high aerodynamic efficiency at cruise, due to a large aspect ratio wing. Upon retraction of the wingspan, higher manoeuverability is gained. For a span-changing aircraft, the wing skins must also change geometry with the span change. One proposed type of skin to do this is a corrugated skin, which displays high anisotropy in stifiness, allowing it to take significant aerodynamic pressure loading, whilst being compliant in the spanwise direction to allow for wing morphing. The method of corrugation used produces sharp leading edges, and so different methods for rounding of the leading edge are examined to determine whether lost aerodynamic performance can be recovered. These are analysed first in 2D, and then the simulations are extended to 3D to determine the effects of corrugation wavelength in the spanwise direction, and the effect of corrugation depth. It is found that the leading edge profile can greatly impact performance, that corrugation wavelength has only a minimal effect on aerodynamic efficiency, and finally that corrugation depth can incur a significant performance penalty.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087193310&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2514/6.2014-2724
DO - 10.2514/6.2014-2724
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85087193310
SN - 9781624102820
T3 - AIAA AVIATION 2014 -14th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference
BT - AIAA AVIATION 2014 -14th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference
T2 - AIAA AVIATION 2014 -14th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference 2014
Y2 - 16 June 2014 through 20 June 2014
ER -