• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
• /
• v.10 no.5
• /
• pp.419-437
• /
• 2023

This paper presents the study of the effects of rigid-body motion simultaneously with the presence of the effects of temporal variation due to the existence of morphing speed on the aeroelastic stability of the two-stage telescopic wings, and hence this is the main novelty of this study. To this aim, Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is used to model the bending-torsional dynamics of the wing. The aerodynamic loads on the wing in an incompressible flow regime are determined by using Peters' unsteady aerodynamic model. The governing aeroelastic equations are discretized employing a finite element method based on the beam-rod model. The effects of rigid-body motion on the length-based stability of the wing are determined by checking the eigenvalues of system. The obtained results are compared with those available in the literature, and a good agreement is observed. Furthermore, the effects of different parameters of rigid-body such as the mass, radius of gyration, fuselage center of gravity distance from wing elastic axis on the aeroelastic stability are discussed. It is found that some parameters can cause unpredictable changes in the critical length and frequency. Also, paying attention to the fuselage parameters and how they affect stability is very important and will play a significant role in the design.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.303-328
• /
• 2015

A design methodology is presented to develop the hingeless control surfaces for MAV using adhesively bonded Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) actuators. These actuators have got the capability to deflect the trailing edge surfaces of the wing to attain the required maneuverability, besides achieving the set aerodynamic trim condition. A scheme involving design, analysis, fabrication and testing procedure has been adopted to realize the trailing edge morphing mechanism. The stiffness distribution of the composite MAV wing is tailored such that the induced deflection by piezoelectric actuation is approximately optimized. Through ground testing, the proposed concept has been demonstrated on a typical MAV structure. Electromechanical analysis is performed to evaluate the actuator performance and subsequently aeroelastic and 2D CFD analyses are carried out to see the functional requirements of wing trailing edge surfaces to behave as elevons. Efforts have been made to obtain the performance comparison of conventional control surfaces (elevons) with morphing wing trailing edge surfaces. A significant improvement in lift to drag ratio is noticed with morphed wing configuration in comparison to conventional wing. Further, it has been shown that the morphed wing trailing edge surfaces can be deployed as elevons for aerodynamic trim applications.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.819-835
• /
• 2016

In this paper, the activities carried out within the EU funded Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative (JTI GRA) Project and aimed at developing a morphing flap, are illustrated. The reference device is a regional aircraft single slotted flap, enhanced with deforming capabilities to obtain improved hyper-lift performance. The design started with the identification of the internal architecture, intended to allow camber variations. A concentrated-hinge architecture was selected, for its ability to fit different curvatures and for the possibility of easily realizing an "armadillo-like" configuration, then avoiding the use of a complicate deformable skin. The flap layout is made of segmented ribs, elastically hinged each other and span-wise connected by conventional spars. Relative rotations of the rib elements are forced by SMA structural actuators, i.e., cooperating in the external loads absorption. Super-elastic SMA are used to make up recovery elastic elements, necessary to regain the original shape after activation. These further elements in turn contribute to the overall flap rigidity. After assessing the hinge number and the size of the SMA active and passive elements, the advanced design phase was dealt with. It was aimed at solving manufacturing issues and producing the executive drawings. The realized demonstrator was finally tested in lab conditions to prove its functionality in terms of whether target shape actuation or attained shape preservation under loads. On the basis of the numerical results and the experimental outcomes, precious hints were obtained for further developments of the concept.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.1393-1410
• /
• 2015

An original sensor system based on Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) for the strain monitoring of an adaptive wing element is presented in this paper. One of the main aims of the SARISTU project is in fact to measure the shape of a deformable wing for performance optimization. In detail, an Adaptive Trailing Edge (ATE) is monitored chord- and span-wise in order to estimate the deviation between the actual and the desired shape and, then, to allow attaining a prediction of the real aerodynamic behavior with respect to the expected one. The integration of a sensor system is not trivial: it has to fit inside the available room and to comply with the primary issue of the FBG protection. Moreover, dealing with morphing structures, large deformations are expected and a certain modulation is necessary to keep the measured strain inside the permissible measure range. In what follows, the mathematical model of an original FBG-based structural sensor system is presented, designed to evaluate the chord-wise strain of an Adaptive Trailing Edge device. Numerical and experimental results are compared, using a proof-of-concept setup. Further investigations aimed at improving the sensor capabilities, were finally addressed. The elasticity of the sensor structure was exploited to enlarge both the measurement and the linearity range. An optimisation process was then implemented to find out an optimal thickness distribution of the sensor system in order to alleviate the strain level within the referred component.