TY - JOUR
AU - Inman, Daniel J.
AB - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are prime targets for morphing implementation as they must adapt to large changes in flightconditions associated with locally varying wind or large changes in mass associated with payload delivery. TheSpanwise Morphing Trailing Edge concept locally varies the trailing edge camber of a wing or control surface,functioning as a modular replacement for conventional ailerons without altering the spar box. Utilizing alternating activesections of Macro Fiber Composites (MFCs) driving internal compliant mechanisms and inactive sections of elastomerichoneycombs, the SMTE concept eliminates geometric discontinuities associated with shape change, increasingaerodynamic performance. Previous work investigated a representative section of the SMTE concept and investigatedthe effect of various skin designs on actuation authority. The current work experimentally evaluates the aerodynamicgains for the SMTE concept for a representative finite wing as compared with a conventional, articulated wing. Thecomparative performance for both wings is evaluated by measuring the drag penalty associated with achieving a designlift coefficient from an off-design angle of attack. To reduce experimental complexity, optimal control configurations arepredicted with lifting line theory and experimentally measured control derivatives. Evaluated over a range of off-designflight conditions, this metric captures the comparative capability of both concepts to adapt or “morph” to changes inflight conditions. Even with this simplistic model, the SMTE concept is shown to reduce the drag penalty due toadaptation up to 20% at off-design conditions, justifying the increase in mass and complexity and motivating conceptscapable of larger displacement ranges, higher fidelity modelling, and condition-sensing control.
TI - Spanwise morphing trailing edge on a finite wing
JF - Proceedings of SPIE
DO - 10.1117/12.2083945
DA - 2015-04-02
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/spie/spanwise-morphing-trailing-edge-on-a-finite-wing-P1VYh2qhN0
SP - 94310T
EP - 94310T-15
VL - 9431
IS - 
DP - DeepDyve
ER -