Structural and Aerodynamics Studies on Various Wing Configurations for Morphing

Abstract

The current aircraft industry, specially unmanned aerial vehicles, is shifting from fixed wing vehicles to morphed wing. Morphing wings can create smoother aerodynamic surfaces, making an aircraft more agile and efficient than an aircraft that flies with many discrete moving surfaces. In present study, a double corrugated variable camber configuration of morphing wing with trailing edge morphing sections are proposed. The two configurations available from literature; one Fish Bone Active camber concept and other is variable camber morphing wing composed of single corrugated structure is considered for comparison of structural and aerodynamic analysis. The structural analysis of all prototype models is done using finite element analysis with actuation mechanism. Aerodynamic analysis is done using two methods; one analytical approach based on thin airfoil theory, and the other one is numerically using XFOIL, which couples a potential-flow panel method with viscous boundary-layer solver. A comparison is done on the basis of stress and deformation developed in various parts of the models. The results show that the double corrugated variable camber morphing configuration can take more structural load without harmful deformation. The aerodynamic analysis also shows that the aerodynamic efficiency of double corrugated variable camber morphing configuration is higher compared to other configurations.